Lifting off: Balloon Roundup Sours High

Jennifer Conlee, co-news editor

It was just after dawn, and more than 20 balloons took to the air as the South West Regional Balloon Club kicked off its second South Plains Balloon Roundup.  

The American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the South Plains Food Bank, and local marines joined the club as sponsors for the event, which benefited the victims of Hurricane Katrina. 

 The Balloon Roundup was held as part of Wolfforth’s annual Harvest Festival, with more than 20,000 people watching the balloons take flight.  Spectators began arriving before dawn and after the weather was tested, the balloons were set up.  The weather had to be tested to make sure that it was safe for the balloons to launch. 

“Ideally, the wind should not be over 11-12 MPH,” explained club member Katherine McLamore, who has been involved with the club for a year and a half.  To test the wind, several orange helium-filled balloons were set loose. Then, shortly after sunrise on Sept. 10, the event  began. According to the representative from the National Weather Service, sunrise was the best time to send balloons up.

McLamore explained how the balloons are first filled with cold air, using a large fan.  Several people hold open the mouth, while one person at the other end holds the crown line.  Once the crown of the balloon is at 50 feet, the hot air is turned on, she said.

The balloons were eager to get up in the air on that breezy morning, and it took several crewmembers to hold the balloon down, until the pilots were on board and ready to ascend.  The colorful balloons looked magnificent as they lifted off.  Once the balloons were  in the air, chase crewmembers hopped in their cars so that they could stay close to the balloons and bring them back when they came down. 

“Balloons have enough propane to stay in the air for two hours, but these will probably only stay up for 15 to 30 minutes because of the wind,” said Charlie M. Brown, the media coordinator for the event. 

Long time balloonist Mary Ann Slagle-Poteet piloted one balloon, which she calls Magic Toy. 

“I had the opportunity to take a balloon ride, and I got hooked on my first ride,” said  Slagle-Poteet, who has been flying since 1979 and is working on obtaining a commercial license to teach others how to pilot a balloon.

Crewmembers, pilots, and spectators alike seem to be hooked on ballooning.  Donna Walker, a balloon crewmember, started out watching balloon events before participating. “We started out as spectators, and got the view from the spectator point of view,” Walker said.  “I like the colors of the balloons; it’s like a rainbow.” 

Pilot Robert Long, who attended the event with his wife, Mindy, said, “I enjoy the solitude of being in the sky, with no noise.”

The event went well, with spectators filling the field before the sun came up.  However, not all the balloons were launched.  

“That day the inflation was uncharacteristically difficult.  Usually the winds don't roll your balloon on the ground, and make odd shapes out of the envelope.,” McLamore said.  “That was really an unusual day.  Mary Ann has been doing this for 10 years and she said that was the hardest inflation she has ever experienced,”.