Balloons Take Flight and
Glow, Friday Night

by: Bobby McDonald

 

Winds calmed on Friday afternoon and at approximately 7:15 p.m., the first of some ten balloons began taking flight from the field across from Sulphur Springs High School. The floated in a northwesterly direction and many were landing at the Sulphur Springs Municipal Airport, as reports were coming in of "smooth sailing," from the air.

 

 

Our own, Kelly Humphrey was a passenger in the first balloon to take flight and could not believe how soft the ride was. "It was just like floating carelessly through the air and even though I had worried about the landing, we just touched down and it was wonderful," Kelly exclaimed. "I had kinda had some reservations with it being Friday the 13th, but I'm ready to go up again! I had a wonderful and experienced pilot and it was fantastic!"

 

 

"It was so neat to see your hometown from that perspective," expressed Kelly. "It certainly looks different from up there even though we flew rather low!"

 

 

 

Meanwhile, as the many of the balloons were taking flight, the other balloons were inflating and getting ready to put on a spectacular show, for the glow. As the skied darkened, the balloon began to "light up" and the vivid colors of the balloons were spectacular. A large crowd of local residents brought their lawn chairs or used the tailgates of their truck to watch the show!

 

"We were so excited to have the balloons to take flight and to have such a wonderful crowd for the glow, on Friday night," expressed Pam Black and Sharonda Greenwood. "The pilots are just as anxious to get into the air as those wanting to ride, but we just have to make certain that everything is safe and that there are no dangers for the pilots, passengers, and balloons. We certainly don't want a tragedy of any kind, while everything is on our watch!

 

 

 

Hopefully, with weather cooperating, the balloonist will again take to the skies twice tomorrow and again on Sunday morning. They plan to be in the 49th Annual Dairy Festival Parade at 10:00 a.m. and many are entered in the Pilot's Milking Contest at approximately 3:30 on Saturday.

 

Look for a full day of excitement on Saturday as the day begins with the balloons at 6:00 a.m., followed by the 5k Milk Run, Dairy Festival Parade, Quilt Walk, Corvette Show, Milking Contest, State Ice Cream Contest, and finally the day will end with music on the downtown square. You're sure to find plenty of activities and something to your particular taste. I'm betting that most of you will want to be somewhere near the Ice Cream Contest, which gets underway at 4:00 p.m.!

 

 

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