coolweatherwithtem-
peratures down to the mid 20’s and highs
inthe 60’s one week, changed tolows in
the50’sandhighsinthe80’sforthe
fourthannual edition of the Great Casey
Jones Balloon Classicand Air Show. This
year an air show was added to the balloon
events thus requiring a name change. The
four daysprior toOctober13thsteadily
improvedfor the ballooningcommunity
and theweekend was pictureprefect.Clear
skies andlight winds eachday.
The Great Casey Jones Balloon Clas-
sic and Air Show isa major fund raising
activity for charity.The agencies that ben-
efitfromthisactivityaretheKiwanis
Cen terforCh ildDev elop ment,the
KiwanisFoundationandLifeline Blood
Services.Lasty eartheyraisedov er
$52,000. The results ofthisyear’sevent
have not been totaled but all expectations
arethattheywillexceedthatbya wide
margin.Theunofficialcountwasover
15,000people intwo days.
No event of this magnitude could be
successfulwithoutastrongsponsor and
volunteer base. In its fourth year these two
areasgrowstrongereachyear.Kendall
McCarter and Co-Chairman Seth Zamek,
B.J.HarperandPaulBrianworkedfor
almosta year but it all came together.
The Media Flight on Friday morning
hadtrafficpulledoverallalongseveral
majorarteries in town. Fiveballoons gave
Jacksonatasteofwhatwastocome.
Friday evening saw the first of the sched-
tethered rides.The community has learned
toanticipatethisandturnedout insuch
largenumbersthatallrideticketswere
soldfor the firsttime ever. Nineteen bal-
loonsglowedtilltheyranoutof fuel. It
wasestimatedthatbetween6,000and
7,000 people attend this Friday nightglow.
Of course all the other activities were
openandrunning onFriday. With carni-
valrides,trainrides,ponyrides,petting
zoo and a multitude of food vendors there
wassomethingforeveryone.There was
evenlive music on the main stage featur-
ing “Night Shift.” People were still trying
togetinatclosingtime. Saturdaynight
Mpulse & Mickey Utley performed on the
main stage.
Saturday morning’s task was a fly in
to the field. Pilots were required to launch
fromatleast twomiles from the field. A
large “X” wasplacedonthe fieldasthe
target.A 30foot pole witha ringontop
was placed atthe center of the “X.” This
ringwasworth$5,000tothepilotthat
took it off the pole. A red baggie would be
thrownat the “X” for points. All 22bal-
loonshada goodtrack intothe pole and
the fifthone in piloted by Maury Petrehn
took thering. Scoring Officer Pat Tronsor
andhis crew, wasbusy measuringsince
most pilots threw their baggies. A second
Judge Declared Goal was located north of
theairportandChiefScoringOfficer
Chuck Corollo had his hands full as most
pilots scoredthere aswell. Balloonmeis-
announcedthat
prize moneywould be paidto 22places.
Saturday afternoon the Mill Masters
Air Show washeld twice. A huge crowd
saw aerobatics ona scale seldomseenin
these parts. Just watching the planes take
offandlandwasexcitinginitself.Pitts
biplanes,anultralightstun tplane,a
Citabria and a Sea Fury all performed for
the sunburned spectators. There was even
a demonstrationbythelocalradiocon-
trolled airplane club.
Theafternoonballoontaskwasa
Hare and Hound with Cunningham as the
Hare. Twenty two balloonsinflating and
liftingoffwasspectacular.Therewere
eventwocorporate balloons, ReMax pi-
lotedbyStewartCrawfordandMusic
City Volvopiloted byJulian Tune.
Cunninghamfounda suitable place
and laidout the “X” target. Mosthad the
opportunitytodroptheirbaggiesonit
beforeflyingontofindalandingspot.
Howard Holmes with a perfect dead cen-
ter throw received $100, Mike Wade with
athrowof 1 inch got $75 and Hulon White
withathrow ofthreefeetgot$50.The
parkinglotoftheHome Depotwastoo
good alanding spotto pass upandmost
landed there. Needless to say ahuge crowd
gathered at once and many volunteered to
help pack up. Brian Rohr elected to tether
right there andgave ridestoall the chil-
dren who wanted to ride. He tethered until
he was out of fuel. This won him a special
GoodSportsmanshipAwardofanaddi-
The Great Casey Jones
Balloon Classic and Air
Show
