by: dankelzaga
 |
| photo courtesy of dankelzaga |
On Sept 15th,
the 22nd annual RE/MAX of Midland Balloon Festival was held in Midland, Michigan at
the country fairgrounds. This year
the event added a bit of new entertainment to the festivities -- Great Lakes
Base and Great Lakes Garrison were "out in Force" for the event.
Over 20 hot air
balloons and their crews took to the skies on a sunny fall day. The annual balloon festival is the kick
off event to the United Way Campaign in Midland County and over 25,000 guests
attended the four-day event. Admission (as always) was free with a canned food
donation. Festivities involved skydivers, face painting, food vendors, live
music, a bar-b-que, bounce houses, inflatable obstacle courses, and of
course...hot air balloon races. "After-glow"
events at dusk were also held with the glowing flames from balloon burners
lighting up the night sky.
Young and old
appeared to love the various costumers! A good ole fashioned hoedown even occurred with Rebels and
Imperials putting aside their differences long enough to dance with attendees. Lord Vader himself was even observed
doing a bit of "boot scootin" during the hoedown. While the skies were simply too full of
balloons to conduct a fly-by in X-wings, a round of jumping in the bounce house
was ok'd by fleet command. With
the assistance of a couple of brave Stormtroopers, a mission inside of the
bounce house became a real crowd pleaser.
Watching
costumers from a "galaxy far, far away" hopping and jumping in unison
inside a bounce house is something not often seen. Great Lakes Base’s very own Chewbacca (Lumpy) was also a hit.
Lumpy even took time out of his
busy Wookiee rounds to visit the concession stand. The question of the day became, "just where does a Wookiee
carry his elephant ear funds anyway?”
The balloon festival
was a huge success, and not only were we invited to next year's event,
individuals from other Midland county services (such as the community center)
were so impressed that they inquired about possible future appearances. The RE/MAX event was yet another shining
example of the power we have to bring joy to our own galaxy....one smile at a
time.
Until next time,
straighten up and fly right and stay on target!
Lt. Daan Kelzaga
Dan Hench
Shadow
Six/Shadow Squadron
Great Lakes Base
Rebel Legion
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