April1999
- ora fewfeet of it -stop themfrom
enjoyingballooninginthe greatoutdoors.
For ten years, the Hudson Hot Air
Affair hasbeen heldthe firstfullweekend
in February in Hudson, a suburb of Min-
neapolis-St.Paul.Between40and50
pilotsregularly attend the festival.
“Thetemperature hasbeen anywhere
from 40 below to 40 above,” said Carla
Jackman-Martin,anorganizer oftheevent.
“And there’s always been snow.”
Balloon flights are scheduled Satur-
day morning and afternoon, and Sunday
morning, with fun flights and non-sanc-
tioned competitions. Only once were the
balloons grounded for all three flights.
A glow is scheduled Saturday night,
but if it’s too windy for the balloons, the
pilots light theirburnerswithout their
envelopes in an event called The Fieldof
Fire.
“It really warms you up,” Jackman-
Martin said.
The rally is part of a full weekend of
activities,includingcandlelightcross
country skiing,a torchlightparade featur-
ing marching kazoo bands, fireworks, a
swing dance, volleyball in the snow, dog
sledding competitions, pets in the park
and a smoosh board competition, where
four people on one pair of skis run an
obstacle course.
Upto 3,000 people usuallyattendthe
free festival(nearlyhalfof Hudson’s7,000
population),but fewer show up when it’s
really cold.Theyearit wasminus 40
degrees, “there were more people watch-
ingfrom theircarsandhomes, butsurpris-
ingly,peoplecame,”Jackman-Martinsaid.
Thefollowing weekend,up to ten
balloons may be found in Minocqua in
northernWisconsin.Despiteawinter
populationof only about 3,800, mid-win-
teris the best timetofly becausethe
frozen lakesare justaboutthe only places
to land.
“We’re in the north woods, an hour
north of Wausau,” said Jodi McMahon,
events coordinator for Snow Fest.
“We bring them out onto our frozen
lakes.Theytake offfromLakeMinocqua,”
McMahon said. “They pretty much land
wherever the wind takes them to another
The only other options are a small
airport, a few schools and a lot of trees.
The 1998 rallywascanceled due to a
balmywinter (blame ElNiño)whichkept
undesirable slush on the lakes. A couple
of trailerscracked the ice this year, but no
one got dunked.
“We’ve had Mother Nature come in
a few years and we had to alter the events
a few times,” McMahon said.
The rally isinvitationonly. Balloon-
ists fromIllinois, Iowaand Wisconsin
have participated in the past seven years.
Springtime brings warmer weather
and the largest rally in Wisconsin, when
about 90 balloonistsfly at the Wisconsin
Dells, a vacationdestinationthat features
amusement parks and unusual rock for-
mations bordering sparkling lakes.
The rally isheldeach year the week-
endafterMemorialDay. More than90,000
spectators are expected this year.
“It’s a beautiful place to fly,” said
organizer Debbie Spaeth. “A lot of Wis-
consin is rolling farmland. There still is
quite a lot of open area.”
A smaller gathering is held there in
the winter, when six balloons participate
in the Wisconsin Dells Flake Out Festi-
val.
Chasing canbe achallengeat the
Dells, however. There are only two ways
to cross the Wisconsin River should the
balloons drift across it.
Most Wisconsin balloonists enjoy a
challenge and fly competitively. Spaeth
believes competition is popular there be-
cause pilotswere taughthow to race from
their instructors.
“Thathistoryof ballooninggoesback
toMichiganandIowa, where competition
was started in the midwest,” Spaeth said.
“There was a coregroupwho trainedtheir
students that competitionis normal at an
event.”
Wisconsin balloonistTom Sheppard
has been active in competition for more
than 25 years, but he’s better known for
headingmajorcompetitions,including
WorldChampionshipsandnationalcham-
pionshipsin the U.S. and Canada.
OtherWisconsinpilotsannuallycom-
pete during the U.S. national champion-
Harold Graves, who has been flying
balloons for 25 years, is a serious com-
petitorwhohastraveled the country com-
peting in various rallies.
But his native Wisconsin is still his
favorite place to fly.
“It’s probably the nicest place I’ve
ever flown,”he said. “It’s gotnice terrain,
the lakes, woods and hills. There are a lot
of nice landing spots and a lot of friendly
people.”
Graveslikestoflycorporate balloons
over Milwaukee whenever winds blow-
Snow and cold do no t stop balloon-
istsfromhavingfunduringWisconsin
winters.
Bottom:Great Wisconsin Dells Ballo on
Rally.
April1999
“Ienjoylaunchingfrom the lakefront
and flying over the city,” hesaid. “It’s
really a fun deal.”
Balloonist Peter Asp offers another
aspect of flying in Wisconsin: the wind.
He says Milwaukee is among one of the
top 10 windiest cities in the U.S., so it’s
rare to get becalmed.
“One thing people remark it never
gets calmin Wisconsin. We almost al-
ways have some wind,” he said.
Each July for the past five years, the
Wisconsinstatechampionhasbeen
crowned at the Spring City Sky Fest in
Waukesha, about 30 miles west of Mil-
waukee.
About35 balloons,includingspecial
shapesandcorporateballoons,partici-
pate during the Waukesha County Fair,
with a media flight Friday morning and
four sanctioned flights through Sunday
morning.
Roughlyhalfof theballoonistsflying
atthe championshipare notfrom Wiscon-
sin, saidorganizerKenWalter,so the
highest weekend score by a Wisconsin
pilotis deemed the state champion.
Madison, the state capital, is home to
several special shapeballoons operated
by SkyAces, even though the polar bear,
eagle, tennis shoe, battery and computer
monitor fly more often out of state.
Spaeth estimates there are about 40
active balloonistsin Wisconsin. Many of
them are in the southern part of the state,
near Illinois. The ballooning communi-
ties fromthetwo states evenschedule
meetings together.
TheWisconsinBalloonGroup,
formed in the 1975, meets three times a
year - in January, April and in the fall,
whentheymeet withmembers ofthe
Northeast Illinois Balloon Association.
The meetings are centered around a din-
ner.Topicscouldbeasilentauction,
storiesfrom the WorldChampionshipsor
a show and tell where people bring in a
slide and talk about a particular flight.
Nearly half of the 75 club members
arepilots. Theremaining are crew and
observers.
The ballooning community in Wiscon-
sinis close-knit andremains friendly. The
brand of the balloon you fly doesn’t matter.
Graveshas seen somepilotstreated asoutcasts
in otherstates because they don’t fly thesame
brand of balloon others do.
“We’re not biasedonwhattype of
balloonwefly,”hesaid.“We’revery
open to each other.”
Asp is Wisconsin’s only designated
examiner for balloons. He saidhe typi-
cally tests four or five applicants a year,
but flewwith 15 students in 1998. Several
of the studentscamefrom neighboring
Illinois.
Wisconsin remains a balloon-friendly
state, with few red zones. That good rela-
tionship is in part due to instructors who
train their students about the importance
of good landowner relations. With a state
known for it’s dairy farms (where do you
think the Cheeseheads come from?) it’s
important not to impose.
The Wisconsin Balloon Group spon-
sorsadrawingtogive $300a yearto
landowners.
Asp, who also operates a repair sta-
tionbetweenMadisonandMilwaukee,
said balloonists are prettymuchspread
out across the state. Landowner problems
arekepttoa minimumwhentheskies
aren’t saturated by balloons.
WisconsinBalloonGroup:three
meetingsayear;annualduesare$15
andincludeabi-monthlynewsletter.
Contact:Keith Wohlfert, N.2594 County
HighwayA,Oxford,WI53952.608-
586-5534.
HudsonHotAirAffair:Firstfull
weekendinFebruary, 40-50balloons;
parades, games, three scheduled flights
andaglow.Contact:CarlaJackman-
Martin,P.O.Box744,Hudson,WI
54016.1 888-AIR-AFFAIR.
MinocquaSnow Fest,secondfull
weekendinFebruary,fewerthan10
balloons, frozen lake take offs and land-
ings.Contact:MinocquaChamberof
Commerce, POB 1006, 54548. 715-356
5266.
Wisconsin Dells, WI: Weekend af-
terMemorialDay,90balloons.Con-
tact: Debbie Spaeth, P.O. Box 674, West
Bend,WI53095. www.wisdells.com
414-338-2300.
HondaGrandPrix,Monroe,WI,
July 14-18. About 60balloons in sanc-
tionedcompetition,includinginterna-
tionalpilots.Contact:DebbieSpaeth,
“Wedon’thaveanawfullylotof
people flyingin the same area,” he said.
“We do have cattle tobe concerned with,
but we’re real cautious aboutstayingout
of cropsandnot scaring the cattle.”
Gregg Rasske hasa ride businessin
GreenLakeCounty,nearOshkosh.He
goesfurtherwithkeepinglando wners
happy. In addition to the customary bottle
of champagne, Rasske gives landowners
$20 giftcertificatesto a grocery store.
“Usually everybody is smiling when
theyseeuscomingbecausetheyknow
they are going to get something,” he said.
Hemadepinsforthelandowners
thankingthemandtoremindpeopleto
drinkmilkandeatWisconsinbeef, pork
andcheese.
Rasske also teaches intro to balloon-
ing classes for the 4-H,gives away rides to
area volunteer fire departments and teth-
ers at thecounty fair, donating proceeds to
charity.
“It’s anicewaytogive backtothe
landowners,” he said.
338-2300.
SpringCitySkyFest,heldthe
third weekend in July, 30-35 balloons,
foursanctionedeventstocrownthe
WisconsinStateChampion.Contact:
KenWalter,South47West23365
Lawnsd aleRo ad,Wau kesh a,WI
53189. 414-524-8763.
Wausau
