think about Danville and I am reminded
ofaDr.Suessbook...“toowettogo
out...towindytoplayball... we didnot
like it.. didnot like it atall.... we didnot
like it, not one single bit... all we could do
wasjustsitsitsitsit...”or that’show it
seemed, althoughit did not rain as much
as the past few years, we did sit and watch
the windblow.
The 2000Oldsmobile Balloon Clas-
sic Illinois was held June 9-11. The plans
for this year weregrand,there wouldbe
75hotair balloonpilotsinvitedandthe
eventorganizers were extremelyexcited
to play host to ten gas balloons, participat-
ing in the 2000 US Gordon Bennett quali-
fier.Sponsored by the Commercial-News
(Danville’s newspaper), TheBalloon Clas-
sic and The State of Illinois this would be
a first ever gas balloon race for this event.
Over the 14 years of The Oldsmobile
Balloon Classic it has hosted several other
firsts. In 1993 they held the “NightRiders”
event. It was the first hot air balloon race
totake place at night as pilots did a CNT
the first Women’s Championshipfor hot
airballoonpilots.TheOldsmobileBal-
loon Classic boasts the biggest carnival in
the county. Over the years, this event has
donatedover$150,000dollarstonon-
profitcommunityorganizations. Thanks
toOldsmobile andover 900volunteers,
the event has remained not-for-profit and
donates the proceeds back to the commu-
nity. It is no wonder that they were nomi-
natedandawarded“TheBestBalloon
Event” by the readersofBalloon Life.
Seventyfivehotairballoonpilots
and their crews began arriving in Danville
onThursday.Thepastthreeyears,had
beenrained out and with over $25,000 in
cashprizes anda brand new HEAD bal-
loonat stake, there was hopeful anticipa-
tionfor thisyear.
Thursdayeveningwasthe unofficial
openingevent. Pilots were auctionedoff
to the highest bidder in a fun, fund raising
Calcutta.MauryPetrehn,eventookoff
hisshirt inaneffortto increase the bids.
dashonLake Vermillion. The windhad
been blowing all day but it was too late in
the evening to fly when it finally dropped
off.
Thefirstcompetitivehotairflight
wasscheduled for Fridayeveningwith a
pilot parade, balloon glo and the gas bal-
loonlaunchtofollowaround8:30p.m.
Aftercheckinandregistration,both the
gas pilots and hot air pilots attended brief-
ings. There they were told that the winds
were not expected to co-operate, the com-
petitive flightwas canceled, the glowas
onpendingthe windandthegaslaunch
wasstill a maybe.
Tengasballoonteamsweregeared
upandreadytogoandanotherbriefing
washeld at the field. But the launch was
postponed and then later it was decided to
move it to Saturday evening. The current
wind forecast and trajectories would have
puttheballoonsintheGreatLakesby
sunriseonSaturdaywiththunderstorms
developing throughout the morning.
The glo went almost as planned with
onlyafewballoons,includingCellular
One,CargoLifter,Pontiac,GMC,Pepsi
andSugarBearfightingthegustsand
glowingforjustalittlewhileforthe
crowds.
Saturdaymorning’sflightwascan-
celedsoJoelSturdevant,Pat&Vicki
Fogue, Vicki’s brother Matt and I headed
inanOldsmobile,totheIndianapolis
Motor Speedway Museum about an hour
from Danville. As we dozed off during the
history video, agas balloon mention caught
myeyeandlaterJoelandI headedup-
stairstothearchives.Fromthephoto-
Classic Illinois
events for 1999. Ron Crick (r.) is present with a plague honoring the event by event
announcer Glen Moyer (l.).
