November 2000
in1799,Ravenna, Ohiohas
about12,000residents.Butoncea year,
the townhosts asmanyas15,000guests
for the annualBalloonA-Fair Festival.
TheRavennaBalloonA-Fairwas
startedin1979bythreelocalmenwho
dreamed of filling the skies with balloons
and the air with laughter. For the past22
years, the Balloon A-Fair committee has
kept the dream alive.
Notonlydothe dozenorsovolun-
teersworkwithoutcompensation,they
actuallyPAY tojointhe committee. Ev-
erydollarraisedbythisyear’s fair goes
backintothecoffersforthenextyear’s
activities.CommitteePresidentPatricia
Artzestimatestheevent’scostatabout
$55,000.
The Balloon-A-Fair is, in part, a nod
toRavenna’sheritage.Thesmalltown
has beenhome toseveral rubber compa-
niesthroughthedecades.Amongthose
was Oakes Rubber Company, which made
toyballoon s.Althoug hthecompan y
closedupshopinthistownlongago,
relocating much of its staff to Atlanta, the
Balloon A-Fair remains an integral part of
Ravenna’s identity.
Becauseweatherisastandingjoke
andanacceptedchallengeinnortheast
Ohio,thefair’ssign atureevent—the
launch—isneveragiven.In1999,fair
skiesgracedtheentireweekend.This
year, two of the three scheduled launches
werekilled dueto bad conditions. “Friday
was pretty bad, it was raining. But Satur-
day was beautiful. We were going pretty
good, about 12–15 knots, and we headed
outtowardEdinburg,”(about15miles
southeastofthelaunchsite)saidChet
DavisofnearbyKent.Davis,piloting
Whale Boy,joined21other balloonsin
Saturday’s 5:30 PM launch.
Thefestivaloffersotheractivities
thathappen,rainorshine.Achildren’s
parade through downtown Ravenna kicks
offtheweekendfestivalonThursday
evening;onFridaymorning, the Cham-
berofCommercehostsacommunity
breakfasthonoringbusinessesandciti-
zenswhohavemadea contributionand
given support to the Fair. Friday evening,
a hot air balloonpreview isheld—a free
eveningandallwholovetowatchthe
launchingof hotairballoons.OnSatur-
day,theGrandParadestepsoffat9:00
over 100 parade units marchthrough the
historic downtown streets. An impressive
firewo rksdisplayisheldeachnight,
weather permitting; amusement rides and
gamesfo rallag esareprov idedby
Dineamics, of nearby Canton, Ohio. Lo-
calbandsperformonallthreenightsof
thefestival,anda5and10-Kraceis
usuallyheldin Ravenna on the weekend
of the event.
Many balloonists have become “fix-
tures”attheevent.Dav is,ownerof
‘America’s Unknown Destinations,’says
he has manned a balloon for in the fair for
the past15 or so years. This year, Davis’
sonSteve took a busman’s holidayfrom
his job piloting the Mr. Goodwrench bal-
loon to take one of his father’s balloons up
inthe fair launch.
Giventheevent’shistory,man y
people who live or have lived in the area
makethefestivalpartoftheirpersonal
and family traditions. Balloon A-Faircom-
mittee member Candy Moore says anum-
berofHighSchoolclassreunionsare
scheduled to coincide with the fair, taking
advantageoftheeventtodrawagood
crowd.Th isyear,theRavenn aHigh
School class of 1965 sponsored a balloon.
AndDavissayshe “always” takes upat
least one couple who wants to be married
in a balloon, to coincide with the fair. This
year the couple was calm but “The judge
whoperformedthe ceremony wasshak-
ingso bad I didn’tthinkhe wasgoingto
finish,” Davissays.
The weekend often draws politicians
andotherwell-knownvisitors. The year
DanQuaylevisited,Moorerecalls,the
hadabout50,000visitors.Moore,
whosaysshe is“crazy”aboutballoons,
doesn’tgettogo upevery year. But she
madesureshe’dgetherfirstride:Ina
rafflein1979,“Ibought37ofthe50
tickets sold!,” she says. Moore hasbeen
ontheBalloonA-Faircommitteeeach
year since.
Ravenna’selementaryschoolchil-
drenget involvedinthefair longbefore
thefirstlauncheachyear,asthefair’s
theme is chosen in an annual spring essay
contest.Thewinnerisannouncedjust
beforetheendoftheschoolyear.The
winningessayistnamesthefallfair and
receivesthehonor ofleadingtheGrand
Parade thatyear.
Reflected inparade floats and deco-
rationsthroughouttown,the2000Bal-
loonA-Fair’stheme was“Visionof the
Future.” But the future of this fair is some-
what inquestion.
Nextyear,Artzsaid,thebooths,
bands,andotherattractionsthatusually
grace the downtown streets will bemoved
to Sunbeau Farm, the siteof launch activi-
ties and amusement rides. Hosting activi-
ties at two separate locations is too expen-
sive tocontinue, she says,andvolunteer
participation is,unfortunately, dwindling.
The Balloon A-Fair committee mails
notices eachFebruary to balloonists who
haveparticipatedinpreviousfairs. Bal-
loonists who participate receive $400 per
balloon registered fortheweekend—even
if a launch is cancelled due to weather. For
information about the 2001 event, logon
to www.angelfire.com/oh2/balloonafair/
or call 330-296-FAIR.
