September 1999
change in25 years.Butas they
say,themorethingschange,themore
they stay the same. Both theories seem to
bethe casewhen referring to theThunder-
birdBalloonClassic,whichonNovem-
ber5,6and7,1999,willcelebrateits
Silver Anniversary.
TheThunderbird Balloon Classichad
itsstartin1974,whentheFriendsof
Thunderbird, a volunteer group at Thun-
derbird,the American Graduate School of
InternationalManagementinGlendale,
Arizona,waslookingfora waytoraise
money for scholarships. A committee was
formed and several traditionalfundrais-
ersweresuggested.Aftersomediscus-
sion on bake and rummage sales, a volun-
teer suggesteda hot air balloonrace.
It took someresearch and alot of hard
work,butthe firstThunderbirdBalloon
Classic wasborn. The event consisted of
16 hot air balloons, student-provided en-
tertainment and a varietyof international
food booths. It was held on the campus of
Thunderbird, drew 2,000people, mostly
volunteersandstudents,andraisedap-
proximately $1,300 for the school.
Theeventgrewfromyeartoyear
and, by 1981, was so popular that it drew
the attentionof sponsors. The eighthan-
nualeventwassponsoredbyCoorsand
featured60 balloons.
Byits18thyear,theThunderbird
BalloonClassichadoutgrownthecam-
pus of the school and moved tothe Glen-
daleAirport,where it stayed fortwo years.
Duringthattimetheeventcontinuedto
growin size and popularity,drawing spon-
sorslikeAmericanExpress,Merabank,
AT&T and more.
In1995,theThunderbirdBalloon
Classic moved again, thistime to itscur-
renthomeatWestWorldinScottsdale.
locationoffersabeautifulviewof
theMcDowellMountains,moreameni-
ties for the pilotsandalargegrassfield
uponwhichtolaunchtheballoons.In
addition, the extra space allows the spec-
tators to be on the field with the balloons
and up-close contact with thepilots. These
improvementshave broughtanincreas-
ing numberof balloon pilots.Thepast two
yearshaveseenmorethan130hotair
balloons at each event including a variety
of corporate andspecial shapes.
In 1997, the event caught nationwide
attention when it was awarded the honor
of TopHotAirBallooningEvent inthe
Country by Events Business News Maga-
zine. That year the ThunderbirdBalloon
Classic drew more than 65,000 spectators
andraisedmorethan$92,000forthe
Mavis VorisEndowedScholarship Fund
atThunderbird,theAmericanGraduate
School of International Management.
Thisyear,theThunderbirdBalloon
Classic is celebrating its Silver Anniver-
sary.In25yearsthefestivalhasseena
varietyofchangesincludingthreeyears
with an air show, once featuring theUSAF
Thunderbirds, a few changes in location,
the addition of professional entertainment,
theinterestofseveralmajorsponsors,
nationwide recognitionandgrowingat-
tendance.
However, through all these changes,
somethingshavestayedthesame.The
foundationof the event has alwaysbeen
thecommitmentofthestudents,volun-
teers and administration of the school and
theThunderbirdBalloonOffice.The
internationalflairof boththeeventand
the school isone of thecomponentsthat
have ledtothefestival’sgrowingpopu-
larity.
TheFriendsofThunderbird,who
the event, are still activelyin-
volved as are the studentsandfaculty of
theschool.Everyyear,studentsofall
nationalitiesturnouttoseeandsupport
thefestivalwhosecontributionshave
helpedmanyofthemgetatop-notch
business education.The event continues
to benefit the scholarship fund, which has
aidedmore than400 students.
Another important factor in the suc-
cess of the Thunderbird Balloon Classic is
thegoodweather, whichisnoaccident.
Twenty-fiveyearsago,ElsaandLee
Baker, long time volunteers and support-
ersoftheevent,startedatraditionthat
remainstothis day.
The Bakers had lived in Philippines,
where theyweretoldgoodweather was
brought on by sending two dozen eggs to
the Sisters of Santa Clara and asking them
for their prayers. For 25years the Thun-
derbird Balloon Classic has been sending
eggs and, in that time, have only once had
badweatherwhentheeggsreportedly
didn’t make it in time.
The uniquenessof the format of the
festival continues. The Thunderbird Bal-
loonClassicisoneofthefewballoon
festivals in the world where spectators are
allowedonthefieldwiththeballoons.
This up-close view of the balloonsgives
boththe spectators andthe balloon pilots
a chance toenjoy the eventfroma com-
pletely different perspective. In addition,
itallowsthepilotstotellvisitorsabout
their balloon and ballooningitself, mak-
ing them feel more like a part of the event.
Mostimportantly, the quality of the
eventhasn’t changed. While it continues
to grow, the Thunderbird Balloon Classic
hasn’tlostsightof what makes the festi-
val so popular. Their commitment to make
theeventbetter for the pilotscontinues.
