June 2000
were with the 5th An-
nual Hot Air Balloon Derby, held at “The
Spirit of the Suwanee Music Park,” Live
Oak, Florida. It was perfect for flying and
ju stenjoyingnaturalbeautyofnorth
Florida. Thiseventhascome a longway
fromitsinceptionin1996.Itnowhas
plentytokeepthe large audience enter-
tainedthroughouttheday.Whilebal-
loons are the mainattraction, visitors en-
joythePaulBunyanLumberjackshow,
SkyDiving,“TheKiwanisRatRace,”
lawnmowerraces,goatshow, Fine Arts
show,wood sculpting, car and truck show,
all day band showcase (14 bands), canoe-
ing, horse riding, mini-golf, horse drawn
wagon rides,balloon walks, balloon tether
rides,balloontradingcards,andmuch
more.
This event now firmly established on
the first weekend ofMay. The18 balloons
thatparticipatedweretakencareofthe
entireweekendbythestaffatthepark.
AfteraglowFridayevening,thefirst
competitiveflightwasheldSatu rday
morning.Ashortfogdelaycalledby
Balloonmeister Rob Schantz had the bal-
loons taking off at 7:30 a.m. Fred Dinkler
ofMarietta,Georgiaheldaslimeight
pointleadoverDougGantofDeland,
Floridaafteradoublehareandhound
race. Ben Burbridge of Jacksonville, win-
ner two years ago,wasthird.
A member partyfor pilots and crew
washeld Saturday afternoon, after many
pilotsandcrewswentoncanoetripsor
horseback riding in the 600 acre park. For
bothmorningflight briefings, the pilots,
crews and sponsors were treated to home-
madepastries,juice,coffee,ect.“Defi-
nitelythe best food at anyevent” was the
comment made by several pilots. A glow
Saturday night was announced as usual by
Tom Maynard. He knowshow toget the
crowdintoit.Therewasnodisappoint-
the crowdfor either glow.
Sunday morning saw absolutely per-
fect weather and steering. Anotherdouble
hare and hound had the pilots going for it.
Fred actually got ahead of the Hare, flown
byChrisSommers,andgambledwhere
he wouldplacethetarget. The haredid
land close enough toallow himto score,
andFredendedupwinningtheevent.
SecondplacewenttoDebbieHoescht
with her two close drops Sunday morning
and thirdwent toDavid Cimini. Another
award fest washeld on site and everyone
headedhome aroundnoonSundaywith
greatmemories,newfriends,andover
half the pilotshad
moremoneythan
showed up with on
Friday.
BalloonTour
Americastaffrun
byRobandJetta
Schantz did a pro-
fessionaljob,and
theeven tisen-
trenched as a regu-
lar in Florida. Next
yearwillbeeven
better.Themaxi-
mumnumb erof
balloo nswillb e
held to 20, so when
thiseven tisan-
nounced,getyour
entryin.
The pilots en-
joyedthemselves
an dtheweather
madeiteasy.The
wond erfulso uth-
ernhospitalityex-
tended bythe park
memb ersreal ly
mak esth ep ark
such a nice place to
Hot Air Balloon Derby
was incredible. The feeling of community
enhances the soundings of the parks un-
equaled Swiss Family, styled tree house.
In addition to the main celebration, the
park’s own bakery chef Lady Marcia
served incredible fresh cinnamon rolls
each morning. The park offers modern
cabins that some staff and pilots enjoyed.
There are also more than 1000 campsites
that pilots are welcome to use as well.
“Staying on site is the way to go, I highly
recommend to anyone that has an RV to
bring it along on this trip,” said Rob
Schantz.
