Firing It Up/ Cent'R Stage Balloon
by Kathy White
Title
Firing It Up/ Cent'R Stage Balloon
Artist
Kathy White
Medium
Photograph - Photography--greeting Cards Or Notes Are Cheaper By The Dozen!
Description
The Great Texas Balloon Races in Longview, Texas is a world class event attracting the very best competitive pilots from across the United States and the world. Considered by many of the pilots that compete at the Great Texas Balloon Race to be the best run event on the circuit, the Great Texas Balloon Race earned Longview the official designation as "The Balloon Capital of Texas" by the Governor of Texas in 1985. The Great Texas Balloon Race is a Balloon Federation of America event and was chosen to host the BFA's United States National Championship competition for 2012-2014. For those three years, the national competition will bring an additional three days of competition flights to the East Texas area. For the 2013 season, the event will take place during the week of July 22 through July 28, with the main attractions days being Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The event has refreshment and food booths, a safe area for children's Kids Land, arts and crafts vendor booths, and live entertainment concerts.
Dr. Bill Bussey, D.D.S., a world-record hot air balloon pilot, and local Longview dentist, was the main creator of the event. Along with other pilots, Dr. Bussey created an evening attraction designed to delight the crowds. Tethered balloons were illuminated setting off a spectacular display of light. This first-ever "balloon glow" became an instant success and is held both Friday and Saturday evenings. Whatever modifications have been made at balloon events around the world, you can know that this crowd-pleasing event began in Longview, Texas.
And it is definitely loved by all!
It is such a beautiful sight to get up early and be there for the 6:30 a.m. fly in. The anticipation watching the graceful giant balloons come floating above the East Texas Regional Airport skies is very exciting. It is especially thrilling to see the Special Shapes Balloons. They are favored highly by the kids! This photograph was taken of the Cent'r Stage Shaped Balloon. Shaped as a stagecoach, that particular balloon, sponsored by Wells Fargo, measures 160,000 cubic feet of air, 100 feet from wheel to wheel and 90 feet tall. It takes a very large crew of people to get this balloon ready to fly! This particular year, my husband David and several friends were on the crew helping. As I took this photo, they were "Firing It Up" and at the same time, it took several crew members to also hold it down. It wanted to fly, not stay on the ground. But they were getting it ready for the balloon glow.
Uploaded
February 26th, 2013
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