TOWN OF CAMBRIA
Balloon show kicks off bicentennial
After a long and blustery delay Friday, the sky over Cambria was full of hot air balloons to celebrate the town’s bicentennial.
The first celebratory balloon took off around 7:45 p. m.; about half of the registered 23 balloons ascended as planned, organizers said.
At 6 p. m. Friday, when the hot air balloons were scheduled to be launched from a soccer field in Niagara County, the wind was still blowing at 20 miles per hour.
“The wind can’t be more than 10 miles an hour for us to go up,” said David Markowitz of Oneonta, one of the pilots.
An hour later, balloonists were still on standby, said Jenny Fritton of Gasport, the balloonmeister coordinating the event.
Balloonists flocked to Niagara County as part of this weekend’s celebration of the Town of Cambria’s bicentennial, which is also the 200th birthday of Niagara County.
Balloonists stood by, waiting to take off for one-hour flights towards whichever way the wind took them.
“Heat vents control up and down, but we have to go where the wind is going,” said Jeff Davis, a commercial balloon pilot from Somerset, Pa., who was there with his wife, Denise, and crew, Hank Parke and his wife, Linda.
The balloons can take off in a high wind, but they cannot land because, once on the ground, the wind drags them along with it.
“You can’t stop. It’s what we call a rip-out landing,” said Davis, referring to the damage that can be done to the nylon envelope.
Much of the NCCC campus at 3111 Saunders Settlement Road (Route 31) has been turned into a booth-laden fairgrounds for the two-day bicentennial celebration, which will continue today with another balloon launch at 7 a. m., followed by a pancake breakfast and a variety of activities, including kite flying, a Civil War encampment, Tuscarora Nation demonstration, petting zoo, pony rides, parade and a performance by the Sandborn Marching Band.
Balloon rides in the 5-by-4-foot gondolas at heights of about 1,000 feet cost $250 each.
The balloons are powered by one or more propane burners. To go up, the pilot turns on the heat, and to descend, lets the air in the balloon cool down or opens vents in the side or top of the balloons.
Once the 70-foot-high balloons are airborne, their path is followed by chase vehicles on the roads below. The balloon pilots use two-way radios to communicate with the ground crews who direct them where to land.
Where possible, permission was obtained from Niagara County property owners beforehand for the balloons to touch down on their land.
“If we can’t get permission, the balloons have to land where they can,” Fritton said.
In that case, the balloon crews come bearing complimentary bottles of champagne and wine to sweeten up the landowners — a traditional gift among balloonists believed to date back to 18th century France, when and where hot air balloons hit the big time.
Niagara County residents were encouraged before the event to grant landing permission by placing large “Welcome” or “Land here” signs on their property.
Members of the Buffalo Jills cheerleading team will be at the Mercy Flight booth between 3 and 4 p. m. today to sign autographs and have their pictures taken for donations to Mercy Flight, a nonprofit provider of emergency medical transport and support services.
