Finger Lakes Balloon Festival, Canandaigua, NY: May 26-29, 1995

by Jenny Fritton

Photo credit: Tom Cooley

Western New York’s balloon rally season got off the ground Memorial Day weekend in Canandaigua at the Finger Lakes Balloon Festival. The rally was organized by the Genesee Valley Balloon Association to benefit Mercy Flight Central, the area’s helicopter ambulance service which provides emergency medical transportation for the rural areas of Western New York. The event took place at Mercy Flight’s headquarters at the Canandaigua Airport. Twenty five balloons from New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and New Jersey participated in the four day event.

The Friday evening sponsor’s flight carried the balloons toward scenic Canandaigua Lake. Most pilots chose to stay low and avoid the lake while a few balloonists, namely Carroll Teitsworth in the RE/MAX of New York balloon, climbed to about 11,000 feet to find a wind direction that would cross the lake. (Later it was discovered that Carroll was challenged by his passengers who lived in Middlesex to fly them home. - He did!) Other major corporations sponsored balloons including Kodak, Olympus, and Canandaigua Wine Company.

Two more beautiful flights resulted on Saturday. The wind had shifted and was now from the east. This sent the balloons toward several miles of farm land, to the delight of many landowners who became eligible to win one of several prizes donated by local businesses. Geoff Turner of Sinclairville, NY was the undeniable winner in the Hare & Hound competition Saturday evening. Ed Lappies of New Hampshire received second place for being the next closest and was recognized for his creativity. (He threw his bean bag to some kids in a bank parking lot and asked them to run in and throw it at the target!) Unfortunately, high winds and rain caused Balloonmeister Stanley Stevenson to cancel all balloon activities on Sunday and Monday. This gave the pilots a chance to explore the numerous sights of the Finger Lakes region and nearby Rochester. A cruise on the lake for pilots and crew was scrubbed on Sunday when a funnel-shaped cloud was spotted nearby.

The festival was truly a unique aviation event for our area, featuring all four categories of aircraft. On Saturday spectators had their choice of a helicopter ride from Mercy Flight, a glider ride with the Finger Lakes Soaring Club, and tethered or free- flight balloon rides. Vintage World War II airplanes from the nearby National Warplane Museum in Geneseo were also on display and gave a brief demonstration. Other activities during the Festival included appearances by clowns, a mock rescue demonstration by Mercy Flight and the local police, fire & EMS providers, and an F- 16 fly-by on Monday morning.

A great time was had by all! Canandaigua is a beautiful area to fly in and the natives are certainly friendly to balloonists. Thanks to the tremendous support of the local businesses and residents, we were able to raise more money for Mercy Flight than we had anticipated for a first year event. We are proud to support such an essential service to the community which saves hundreds of lives each year. Plans are in the works for next year’s festival which promises to be bigger and better!

There are very few balloon events that make it to their 20th Anniversary, but we are glad that the Great Wisconsin Dells Balloon Rally celebrated theirs this year. This was our second year as participants in the event. Its a long way from New Mexico, but well worth the drive.

Our preparations for the event started out quite early in the year. The crew that helped us last year called to make sure we were coming again this year. Our crew (a policeman and his daughters) took their vacation to travel from Illinois to Wisconsin to crew for us again.

The weather for this years event couldn’t have been better. During each of this years three flights we flew a different direction and were able to enjoy the spectacular views around the Dells. The best flight for us was the Sunday morning flight. Since we weren’t in the running in the competition, we opted to fly from the main field with the special shaped balloons. We flew slowly to the north east till we came to the river. I dropped the balloon down between the trees and we drifted just above the surface of the river for several miles. As we rounded one of the bends in the river we were met by a magnificent Bald Eagle who wanted to check out who was in his territory. After he circled the balloon he flew up to the top of a pine tree to keep an eye on us, what a sight.

The competition was real good and this years overall First Place went to Dave Edminster from Nebraska. Second Place went to Pat Newell from Indiana, and Third Place went to Alan Fraenckel from the Virgin Islands.

Tom Sheppard and Debbie Spaeth put on a class event at the Wisconsin Dells, and it will always be one our favorites.

For years the Snowmass Balloon Festival has been one of the events that a lot of balloon pilots strive to get into. The pristine location, excellent accommodations, Jazz Aspen, light and variable winds in the valley, and a great group of pilots, makes this event one of the tops in the high country.

Trish and I flew home from the Forbes event in France just in time to wash clothes, re-pack, load the trailer, and head for the Snowmass event. We arrived to late to make the pilot check in and briefing, so we decided not to fly in the Colorado Rat race the next morning. Friday morning Trish slept in and I headed out to get some photo’s of the Rat Race. After taking a few shots I noticed that Bruce Comstock and Lynn Novitsky were getting ready to go, but had no crew. I talked with them and said that I was going to chase the balloons down the canyon, the rat race being a timed distance race, and I would keep an eye on them.

I followed the balloon down the canyon from Aspen towards Glenwood Springs, stopping along the way to take a few photo’s. I noticed that Bruce and Lynn seemed to be heading a direction where it is difficult to retrieve. They finally made the decision to land the balloon and try to walk it down the side of the mountain to a better location. They finally had to deflate the balloon on a small game trail about half way down a steep mountain. Being a man of my word, and wanting to document their precarious situation, I started hiking towards their location.

They were very surprised when they heard me yelling to them across a ravine. I joined them on the game trail and we discussed how to carry out the equipment. We decided that Bruce and I would carry out the envelope, thank God it was a lightweight Concept. Lynn carried out one of the empty ten gallon fuel tanks. It took us about 45 minutes to make it down to my truck. By the time we were able to load the equipment and drive the truck to a closer road, Dennis Brown, Tim Cole, and John Kugler showed up to help. The rest of the retrieve was much easier with the extra help.

We took Bruce and Lynn back to their van, unloaded their equipment, and headed over to propane. At propane Lorna Daily asked me if I would be willing to go and rescue Joe August since his chase crew seemed to be lost. John said that he knew where Joe landed so John, Dennis, Bruce, and I headed out on another rescue. After we retrieved Joe, we all drove down to a supermarket (my original destination earlier that morning) to stock up on beer and supplies before returning to Snowmass. I told Trish that it would have been a lot less work to have flown our balloon in the race, but probably not as good a story.

The next two days were the usual light and variable winds around the Snowmass bowl, and the flights were great. We all jousted balloons in the Dawn Quixote race, and dropped tennis balls into inflated tire tubes that were floating on the lakes at the golf course. This years winners were John Kugler in the Colorado Rat Race, Richard Abruzzo in the Dawn Quixote Race, and Joe August won the coveted Bent Burner Award. Also awarded this year was the Anderson Ida Award which went to Lorna Daily.