embroke, Georgiaisanunlikelyplace
foraballoonfestival.Lo-catedjustoff
Interstate16approximately150miles
southeast of Macon, Georgia and 30 miles
fromthequintessentialsoutherncityof
Savannah, it is a small town easily missed
onthemap.Surroundedbyfarmsand
largeforestsofGeorgiapines,Balloon
Fest 2000 took to the skies for it’s inaugu-
raleventinlate-Octoberthispastyear.
FourteenballoonsfromaroundGeorgia
traveled to Pembroke, as this was to be a
veryspecial event, to benefita veryspe-
cialcause.
AndyCaytonownsando perates
FeatherAir,acommercialballoonride
businessjustontheoutskirtsofPem-
broke.TouristsvisitingSavannahmake
the30-minute earlydrive tohisfarmto
exp erienceaflightov ertheGeorgia
swamps and farmland. Approximately one
yearagoAndymadethe decisiontoat-
tempta distancerecordina hotair bal-
loon. As a cancer survivor,Andy hoped to
raise money with his flight for The Ameri-
canCancerSociety. Afterreceivingthe
sanctionfromNAAforthiswinter,he
approached local businesses in Pembroke
for sponsorship, and within days the town
had banded together and agreed to host a
Balloon Festival. Proceeds from the festi-
valballoonridesandtetherswouldbe
donated to The American Cancer Society
(ACS).
Thiswastobea more ofa reunion
thanthetypicalballoonfestival.Pilots
and crew began to arrive on Friday of the
weekendandgatheredat
Andy’sfarm. Pilotsreceiveda generous
pilot pack, and as much local crew as their
rig could carry! Pilot briefings were held
justoutsidethe barn, under cover of the
magnificent Live Oak trees adorned with
white, droopySpanishmoss. Theflying
area wasideal,withlarge fields recently
harvested of peanuts or hay, interspersed
with forests and swampland. Five miles to
the south lay the foreboding Fort Stewart—
alivemissilepracticerange.Everyone
had their fingers crossed for no winds out
of the North!
Friday evening all balloons launched
froma large fieldNortheast of the farm.
Winds were light. I carried my wife and a
reporterfro mth eSa vann ah Morn ing
News.Weskippedacrossasmalllake,
playedonthe trees for a while, and then
landedwithtwootherballoons between
twotree linesonanicecutlawn.After
packing up, we all met at the golf club for
dinner,whichtheyhadsponsored.And
what a dinner! Low country boil teaming
withlarge shrimp, corn, sausage and po-
tatoeatenoutdoorsonthedeckofthe
clubhouse.
Saturdaymorning was seriousstuff.
Alocal car dealer in Pembroke had put up
a brand new truck for the key grab. Yes, a
keygrab.Latethepreviousnightasthe
fog began to form,Andy and I had erected
the threepoles and attached the keys in the
center ofhis30-acrefield(thiswasthe
real, live Midnight in the Garden of Good
andEvil!).Thiswasalsotheopening
ofdeerhuntingseasoninthe
South. Fearing potential confusion with a
deer if we set up in the dark, we all waited
untilitwasverylightbeforewe set off.
Withaminimumthree-milefly-in,the
competitionwason. With my crew chief
and his father-in-law aboard, we lifted off
inlight butsteerable winds. Itwasdiffi-
culttoconcentrateonthetask,asthe
flyingwasjustsoenjoyable.Withthe
poles in site, I dropped downtopass just
15 feet from the keys, but close enough to
dropmybeanbagonthetargettotake
secondplace toDavidFields.I landeda
little further downinthe fields andspent
anenjoyabletimechattingtothelocal
crowds that had gathered. No one got the
keys.
Saturday evening was a balloon glow
witha difference. Tether rides and glows
were done along the mainstreetof Pem-
broke, with all the pilots and crew dressed
intheir finestHalloween costume. From
Unionsoldierstofishnetstockingclad
jesters, everyone had a grand time. Tether
money, like the ride money, was collected
anddonatedto ACS.
Sunday morningdawnedtoowindy
formosttofly.Butnottoowindyfor
Andy. He wanted to test the autopilot he’d
just bought from Bruce Comstock for the
distanceattempt,andBrucehadcome
down for the festivaland to putthe auto-
pilotthroughit’spaceswithAndy.The
autopilotworkedflawlessly,evenin the
tough windshear conditions that prevailed.
The human pilot fared OK too!
Record Attempt at
Pembroke Balloon Festival
