Laura's question to me was, could I fly Pat Moss, her husband Malcolm Henderson and two lucky winners into Waynesville High School? My response was sure, yes maybe, and well... probably. Having been thoroughly confused with that answer, I went on to explain free flight winds and such. After determining that flight duration was not an issue I had decided that we could give it a good shot.

After discussing, cost, time, place and agreeing that the gathering of excited walkers, waiting for P. Buckley Moss to make her grand entrance by Hot Air Balloon, could very well watch us fly by. We decided to go for it.

The date set for the walk was Saturday, October 23, 1993. It was an early morning event, with sunrise at 7:55 a.m.. The times for the flight and scheduled walk came together nicely. The temperature the morning of the 23 was in the 30's. So with tanks heated, fuel in the chase truck, myself and my happy and lively crew, Carolyn Valiquette, and Tom Burdick all jumped into the truck and headed off to Waynseville, Ohio, which is about ten miles by way the crow flies (or balloon. . . maybe) from Kettering, Ohio where I live. We were to meet at the Waynseville High School, determine launch site and head out. After stopping several times along the way, launching pi-ball after pi-ball (Helium filled 16" balloons) to determine wind direction, we settled on a large yard next to a church.

With not a lot of time left, both because of wind picking up and scheduled walk with Moss, we quickly assembled, boarded and launched the balloon. With Pat, Malcolm, the two lucky ladies (who won the privilege to fly along) and myself aboard, we headed off on what was to be a very short, but beautiful flight. The flight only lasted ten minutes, so the crew had quite a challenge on their hands. They quickly stored the inflator fan and other gear back onto the truck and returned to the high school parking lot. Knowing that it would be a drop line landing because of the tightness of the parking lot area, the crew quickly jumped from the truck to take position for the drop line. However, in their hurriedness as they rushed to the landing site area, unbeknown to them, the faithful chase vehicle (unmanned), was following behind them. Carolyn shouted and did a quick about face, jumped into the truck and this time put it into park. By that time I had already entered the school property, gently passed over the tree tops in the front yard, then within only a few feet of the roof of the school, smoothly gliding over it, and finally into the waiting hands of my faithful crew. With the drop line deployed, my crew within seconds, had the balloon well under control. I had been pretty busy there for awhile but when the balloon stabilized, I then became aware of the ocean of pink below me. The large group of cheering, happy people were all wearing pink t-shirts over their clothing (pink symbolizing breast cancer survivors). They cheered and waved while Pat and Malcolm joyfully returned their gesture of welcome. As the balloon cooled, it gently descended and with the helping hands of my crew, came to rest on the asphalt. Many walkers engulfed the basket with greetings. Among them were Laura and Kathy, who would lead Pat and Malcolm to the start of the brisk morning walk. They thanked me, not only for a gentle, beautiful flight, but also for landing at our target sight. We said our good-byes as they left the balloon to start their walk and very busy day ahead. Pat Moss later in the day would be back at the Canada Goose Gallery for a signing session. I felt great relief after everything went as planned.

Above:Houser Asphalt Balloon
Right:P. Buckley Moss Print

Through the course of conversations between Laura, Kathy and myself leading up to the event, they hit me with a proposal that I could not refuse. They asked that, instead of payment would I consider a trade - P. Buckley Moss would paint a watercolor of the Houser Asphalt Hot Air Balloon, which would become an offset lithograph reproduced from watercolors in a one time addition of 1,000 and 25 artist's proofs and be available from local Moss dealer's.

I contacted my sponsor, Michael Houser (president of Houser Asphalt and Concrete) for approval to use the Houser logo. He quickly agreed and the rest is history.

I however received a special bonus - Pat Moss, took one print and made it a remark by adding a little girl to the left of the lady, a little boy to the right of her, and another little boy to the right of the man in the foreground of the print, representing my daughter Lisa, and my two sons, Tony and Alan.

As soon as the prints arrived at the Canada Goose Gallery in October of 1994, I purchased one and had it framed along with the remark (which is now one of a kind), and proudly displayed in a prominent place in my home.

One day, I would love to add to them, the original watercolor.

This is how "UP AND AWAY" came to be. Thanks Pat.

With great anticipation, we welcomed Winterfest '95 held January 21-22 in Pinetop/Lakeside, Arizona. This is a the largest winter event for our city and a lot of hard work goes into the planning of it. The activities include snow sculpture contests, snow softball tournament, cross country skiing, wine and cheese tasting, art show and of course my favorite-Hot Air Balloons!!! I was more excited than usual this year because I had just received my LTA private ticket and I was to be the "Hare". The only other "mad balloonist" in town is Bill Butler. He has always been the hare balloon and this year he was finally going to get to participate in the task itself.(he was also my instructor, so he was glad to see me get to participate as a pilot this year)

The Friday night welcoming dinner was lots of fun, with pilots and crew that have been here before returning for more good times and with more new pilots than we have ever had before. This event is limited to 10-12 balloons because of limited facilities. We always seem to end up with the greatest group of folks one could ask for. Every year we get inquiries from pilots from farther and farther away. Our "little event" has a reputation that we try to build more on each year.

Mother Nature was not co-operative on Saturday, with winds and snow that would not allow the morning flight, afternoon tether or the evening glow. This is the first time that the entire day's events had to be cancelled. We woke up Sunday to marginal breezes with a rather thick layer of fog surrounding us. It was just a matter of time before the fog lifted and allowed a free flight of pilot's choice. About half of the pilots opted to fly, some getting in a short flight, others getting a nice, long flight. Not knowing the terrain in this area is a good reason for cutting a flight short.

Even though we didn't get to fly as much as we wanted, all involved still had a great time. (no, I didn't fly, having to make that first tough decision) We had a great awards banquet brunch as always and said our good-bye's afterwards. Not everyone leaves this event on Sunday however, we always have one or two pilots that arrive a day early and stay an extra day. This year it worked out that the day before and the day after the event were both great days for flying!

After four years of waiting for favorable weather conditions six hot hair balloons launched from the Laurel Creek Community Center near Weavers Store, Virginia. The experienced pilots, Marsha Neal, Henry Rosenbaum, Sam Parks, Steve Woods, Gary Lamunion, Mule Ferguson, and Fred Brown used the quadriflex winds of the mountain valley to skillfully maneuver the balloons directly over the peak. Had there been an "X" placed on top of the mountain everyone would have scored. This was the first time that hot air balloons had flown over the rooftop of Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

50 miles and two and one half hours later all landed near Elkins, North Carolina in the rural countryside. Comments from the super friendly landowners were-"Boy those things shure are purty" and "Hain't been this much 'citement here since Dad's cows got out on the Interstate".