by Glen Moyer
Seven years ago following my first visit to the Oldsmobile Balloon Classic Illinois in Danville, Illinois I wrote in this very publication, Despite its relatively short history, the Oldsmobile Balloon Classic Illinois shows great promise. Its organizers learn from their mistakes and improve each year. If this care and concern continues the Classic will become an event that every pilot should want to experience at least once.
1997 marks the beginning of the Classic's second decade and putting aside such nine day events as Albuquerque and Battle Creek, Danville now boasts what is, in the opinion of this reporter and others, the finest weekend balloon rally in the country.
From the very beginning Danville and its steering committee have been innovators. Never satisfied with the status quo, the challenge in Danville is to make next year, not always bigger, but always better. Indeed if one were to seek a model event from which to pattern a new event, you would need look no further than Danville. Consider just a few of their innovations:
*First event to offer a special competition for State sponsored balloons.
*First and only event to offer organized night flying competition.
*First and only event to attempt an organized dawn patrol championship.
*First and only event to organize a public exhibit of Charley Markert's balloon art.
And in 1997 two more firsts were established as Danville created 1) a Women's championship with separate prize money paid to competing female pilots and 2) a new doubles or team competition wherein two pilots are teamed together based on their high or low score on the initial task of the event. From there on the pilot's individual scores are coupled to create a team score - highest score wins.
Beyond mere innovation, Danville learned early on the lesson that to be successful a balloon festival needs more than balloons. Of course, like most events these days, there is a midway of vendors and at least one entertainment stage with bands, but there is so much more. Indeed, Danville promotes its event as a "Land and Sky Festival" and it truly is.
A long-time staple of the Classic has been the Corporate Cup Competition. Employees of local businesses form teams and then compete in a series of games from volleyball to bed racing. Hundreds of Danvillians compete annually and the day long competition fills the entertainment gap between the Saturday morning and Saturday evening balloon events.
Sunday used to be a different story until the Classic became host to the Firefighter's Olympics. Like their corporate cousins on Saturday, teams of firefighters from throughout Illinois converge on Danville for a day of friendly and wet competition. All of the contests feature skills that firefighters use in their everyday tasks. Now in its fourth year at the Classic this competition continues to grow and earn spectator support.
Back in 1990 I also commented on the spirit of community that supports this event in ways that go well beyond mere sponsorship dollars. For example, the local miniature golf business once set up a special nine hole course on the festival grounds. The local cable TV franchisee stages The Fun Factory, a live version of the Nickelodian kid's show Wild and Crazy Games. For the second year running some fifty tons of beach sand was hauled into the airport for a sand castle building contest. It has been such a success, next year a bikini beach is being considered. This in land-locked Vermilion County, Illinois where, except for Lake Vermilion, the closest beach is far to the north in Chicago. For the more adventurous there was a rock wall to be climbed. Previous years have featured everything from arts and crafts, an antique show, even an onsite, life-sized laser tag game. Two years ago a golf green was built in a corner of the balloon launch field and the Classic now hosts a Million Dollar Hole-in-One contest for golfers.
Hosted by the Vermilion County Airport the Classic does not limit its aerial entertainment to balloons. Previous acts have included the Pepsi Skywriter - an after dark aerobatic flight demonstration complete with fireworks and in 1997 the event was visited by The E-Team - three skydiving Elvis impersonators from the movie Honeymoon in Vegas. For hands-on experience spectators can also buy an airplane ride in a restored 1930's vintage Ford tri-motor. Another first in 1997 was an appearance by what is believed to be the largest radio controlled blimp in the world. The surprising craft was built and flown by the proprietors of a hobby shop in nearby Champaign, Illinois.
Yet with all of this, the Classic has never forgotten that it is first and foremost a balloon festival and it treats its plots like the stars they area. Its hospitality tent provides three meals per day for both pilots and crew at no cost. The pilot gifts are always quality ranging from the usual ice chests, attache's, and luggage to the baby blue embroidered terry cloth bath robes received one year. As the name sponsor, Oldsmobile and the local dealer's association, the Heartland Men of Olds, roll out dozens of courtesy cars to participating pilots, officials and staff. Once, when filming a television commercial, all 100 plus pilots were given a new car-theirs to drive for the weekend with the additional courtesy of leaving their balloon vehicles parked over night securely at their launchsite. In this manner the pilots and crew were invited to enjoy the sites of Danville and the surrounding area in the comfort of a new Oldsmobile. Today organizers see to it that at least every first year pilot has access to a new car.
Prize money in Danville is plentiful, 25-thousand, and pays deep - another plus for pilots. The championship prize purse is $12,500 and paid out to the top 37 in 1997. The top three pilots for each task win money and a silver Revere bowl trophy. The top 3 overall win money and uniquely styled stained glass trophies. The overall winner also receives a custom styled 14k gold ring fashioned by a local jeweller. Each balloon that glows is awarded prize money and special competitions like the nightriders, dawn patrol, doubles competition, etc. also pay off with money and trophies.
But pilots are not the only ones who benefit from the generosity of the Classic. From its earliest inception Classic organizers wanted to give something back to the community. Each year a portion of the profits from the Classic are donated to various charities throughout Danville and Vermilion County. Charitable organizations make application for the money and a screening committee selects the winners each year. To date the Classic has donated more than $150,000 dollars to charity.
The reason for this incredible level of success has much to do with the spirit of volunteerism in Danville and an unselfish form of management, says the Classic's Executive Director, Ron Crick. "Many events have a core committee that does all the work and gets beat up year after year and thus they burn out easily. I've been fortunate to keep the same Board of Directors together for years, but as a board none of us are afraid to delegate and let someone else have the glory." Recognition can be a powerful motivator and for many in Danville their association with the Classic is a high point of the season.
As to why the community embraces the event as it does, Crick says, "It's a balloon event, but it's also a community event. We try to have bunches of things for people to do and we try to do something new every year. The people know why we do it and they like it."
It is not by accident that the Classic is hosted by the Vermilion County Airport as Airport Director Bob Gagnon and Illinois balloonist Herb Schmidt are its founding fathers. "The Classic is one of several events we host at the airport," says Gagnon, "and all of them serve to bring the airport and our facilities here a greater degree of visibility in the community." Among the other events is a sports car club rally and an annual agricultural equipment show. Through a cooperative effort between the Classic and the agriculture show, permanent utilities and other fixtures have been added to the airport to the benefit of all.
While some airports struggle with the idea of balloons, Gagnon says the Classic has been able to mix balloons and fixed wing traffic easily enough. In fact, throughout the Classic weekend the only time the airport closes is not for balloon launches, but for the evening fireworks display. "Balloons are aircraft flown by pilots so we treat the situation as that. Of course we don't advertise for fly-in traffic that weekend, but airplanes departing and arriving know the balloons have the right-of-way and so far we've never had a problem."
Of the many hallmarks of the Classic one stands above all the rest. Throughout its eleven years, each with more than 100 balloons participating, each with at least one launch---in other words after thousands of balloon launches and landings, not a single red zone or PZ has ever been created. This is a remarkable feat for a balloon event nestled in the heart of acres and acres of corn, beans and other crops.
As the Oldsmobile Balloon Classic Illinois enters its second decade it has a rich heritage of quality, innovation and success to draw upon. It's no wonder the Balloon Federation of America is excited about the next move of the US Nationals to nearby Champaign County, Illinois in 1998. The ballooning audience in the Champaign/Vermilion county area is a sophisticated one that expects a high degree of excellence. The Classic has seen to that.
