Balloon Life,July 2000

34

LOGBOOK

Alabama Jubilee Hot Air
Balloon Classic

Just before 5 p.m. on Saturday of Memo-
rialDayweekend,balloonmeisterKen
Garner surveyed the sky. He did notlike
what he saw. The wind was blowing about
15 mph at Point Mallard Park in Decatur,
Alabama,andthunderheadsloomedon
thefarhorizon.TheNationalWeather
Service had issued a tornado warning in a
county fiftymilesnorth. It was not shap-
inguptobe a goodeveningfor balloon-
ing,butGarner wasnotabouttocancel
anotherballooningeventthatday.Not
yet, anyway.
“IfIletthepilotsgo[home],we’ll
losethecrowd,”Garnersaidbackstage
after announcinga one hour delay at the
pilot’smeetingofthe24thannualAla-
bamaJubileeHotAirBalloonClassic.
Earlier, Garnerhad canceled themorning’s
hareandhoundrace dueto 15mphsur-
face windsandaheavyovercastsky. It
waspleasantweathertobeoutsideata
MemorialDayweekendfestival,not too
hotortoohumid.However,itwasbad
weather for ballooning.
Duringthe delay, festival-goersen-
joyed karaoke on the main stage as well as
themanyotheractivitiestakingplace.
Then at 5:30, the sky suddenly dropped a
torrentialrainstormonthecrowd.The
showerwasenoughtomakepeople run
for cover, butnotheadforthe car.Five
minuteslater,therainstoppedassud-
denly as it had started.
Afterthe rainended,the winddied
down and the air was calm. Garner opened
the field only to tethered flights due to the
approachingline of thunderstorms. Nine
pilots inflated and tethered their balloons
for an excited crowd. Afew pilots inflated
their balloonstoshow thefestivalaudi-
ence, then immediately took them down.
By 7:15 p.m. all of the balloons were
packedaway, and around7:30thethun-
derstormsarrivedwith40mphwinds,

causinga mass exodusfrom the festival.
AgainonSundaymorningGarner
was forced to cancel ballooning activities,
this time the key grab competition, due to
lowcloudsand13-15mphwindswith
gustsof 20-25 mph.
Despitetheheavywindsandover-
cast skies, many balloonists report having
a great time during the three-day festival.
Garner,whohasbeenballoon meister
many times in the past 14 years that he has
beenwiththeJubilee,saidthatitisthe
socialatmosphere,friendliness,andca-
maraderie thatdraws the balloonists.
“We are basically one big ballooning
family,”Garnersaidasherecalledthe
bannertheymade for apilotwhohadto
miss the festival due to throat cancer. Not
only did all the pilots sign the banner, but
later they circulated a card for everyone to
sign. And after that, someone else passed
arounda t-shirt for signatures, too.
Everyone enjoyed the crew competi-
tionthatwasheldonSundayafternoon
andwo nbyt hecrewofpil otEd
LaFontaine. Individuals were blindfolded
and told to put their head on a baseball bat
and spin around three times. In a hysteri-
calfitof stumblingover themselvesand
each other, the crew members each took a
beanbag and attempted to throw it into a
40-foot circle on the ground by following
the directions of their pilot.
Ro bertBurroughsofTuscaloo sa,
Alabama had such a great time at the crew
competition that he offered to sponsor the
crewcompetitionnextyear.Hisplans
involveatug-of-warinwhichthepilot
must participate—at the front of the rope!
PilotTarpHeadofHelen,Georgia
liked the fact that the Alabama Jubilee is
not just a ballooning event. In addition to
taking place at Point Mallard Park, a mu-
nicipalrecreationcomplexthatboastsa
35-acre water parkwith “America’s first

wavepool”amongotherfeatures,the
Alabama Jubilee features a wealthof ac-
tivities for the whole familyto enjoy.
Previous Jubilees haveincluded aerial
displaysof ultralightcraftandpowered
model airplanes, parachute jumps, an arts
and crafts show, an antique and classiccar
show, anexhibit of steam-powered trac-
tors and farm machinery, live stage enter-
tainmen t,BoyScoutexhibitions,and
kiddierides.Thisyearincludedallof
these activitiesandmore. Anexpansive
sponsorshipprogramallowedtheaddi-
tion of many exciting new activities such
as fireworks, sport kite demonstrations, a
pettingzoo,ponyrides,asandcastle
building contest, andanartcontest.
Headsaidthatbetweenballooning
events, he took his crew to the water park.
He alsofoundtimetoenjoythe antique
carsandtractors.Garnerattributesthe
fact that there are things goingon all day
todrawingsuch a large crowd. The festi-
val hadan estimated50,000 visitors over
the3 -dayweekend ,accordingtothe
Decatur-Morgan County Convention and
Visitor’s Bureau.
Thefactthatthereisnoadmission
charge tothepublic may alsocontribute
tothe large crowd. The festival hasbeen
coordinatedandstagedbylocalvolun-
teers throughout its 24-year history. This
year more than 400people donated their
time to make the Jubilee a success.
“This is an exciting time when a free
eventof this magnitude is organized and
stagedthroughcommunityvolunteers,”
said PamSwanner, executive director of
the Decatur-Morgan County Convention
andVisitor’sBureau.TheJubileealso
reliesonthefinancialsupportofarea
sponsors which include corporations, busi-
nesses, and individuals.
Althoughfree admissionanda vari-
ety of activities taking place are enough to

by Amy Lewis Sides

35

Balloon Life,July2000

luremost peopleto theJubilee,many
people in the crowd came to see the first
publicappearanceofDecatur’snew
100,000 cubic foot envelope.The third
envelopeownedbythecityfeatures
Decatur’s four-color logo on a light blue
background with scallops of red, orange,
yellow, green, royal blue, and purple at
the top and bottom. It was designed and
built by Head Balloons, Inc.of Helen,
Georgia.
Ken Garner thinks owning a hot air
balloon is an unusual way for a city to
promote itself.
“I’ve never heard anyone get excited
over a banner,” Garner said. A balloon
ride is an excellent way to show potential
investors the area when trying to attract
industry to the region.
Decatur was one of the first munici-
palitiesin the nation toacquire, maintain,
and fly its own hot air balloon, according
to researchbytheSouthDakotafirm
which built the original Decatur balloon.
The Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon
Classic was the first official hot air balloon
race in Alabama and is the oldest balloon
race in the mid-South. The festival started
in 1977 with competition between 17 bal-
loonistsfromKentucky,Ohio,Georgia,
Mississippi, and Louisiana. It now draws
morethan60pilotsfrom20statesand
average crowds of more than 50,000. Pilots
have come from as far away as Switzerland
and, withinthe US, from as far away as
Colorado. The festival has enjoyed such a
long, successful history that in 1989 Ala-
bamaGovernor GuyHuntandthestate
legislature declared Decatur the Balloon-
ing Capital of Alabama.
Nevertheless, a long history of suc-
cess did not help the weather this year. On
SundayeveningGarnerhopedtohave
anotherchancetohavetheSUNCOM
balloon glow that was canceled Saturday.
However, strong winds prevented pilots
from inflating their balloons for the spec-
tators.
“I want to fly so bad, but my feet are
stuck on the ground,” went the words to
onesong during the Battle of theBands on
Sunday afternoon. To Garner, the lyrics
seemedlike the theme tothe weekend.
Fortunately, weather did permit an excel-
lent 15 to 20 minute Wal-Mart sponsored
fireworks show Sunday night.
Even though early on Monday morn-
ing the wind looked promising at Garner’s

house, conditions were different at Point
Mallard. WhenGarner woke up,winds
were 3 mph on the surface and 17 mph at
3000 feet, blowing340 degrees. At the
launch site the wind was 8 to 9 mph on the
surfaceandblowingstraightalongthe
Tennessee River, preventing thelast flight
of the Jubilee from taking place.
This yeartheonly actual balloon flight
thathappenedinconjunctionwiththe
festivalwason Friday morningasKen
Garner,ArtThrash,andHulonWhite
flew the new Decatur balloon for a pro-
motionalmediaflight.Butdespitethe

lackofairtime,one pilotsaidthathe
wanted to make sure his name was on the
list to come back next year.
“They take good care of the pilots,”
said Head, whohas attended many bal-
loon festivals during his 26 years of bal-
looning. “The organization is super, first
class accommodations,great pilot packs.”
Head liked the fact that Jubilee organizers
spent more money on the pilots and less
on prizes for the competitions. Although
Head has never before attended the Ala-
bama Jubilee,he islookingforwardto
returning next year.

Decatur Alabama owns its own hot air balloon to help promote the city.