2008 Woodie Awards
Students appreciate or criticize hot air balloon ride
Diantha Leavitt
Issue date: 10/17/07 Section: Life
- Page 1 of 1
Primary colors filled the rainy sky and gave delight to many children and ISU students, faculty, staff and community members. But it wasn't a rainbow that tickled their fancies. It was a gigantic hot air balloon.
Students and community members started lining up at Bartz Field on Saturday at 7:30 a.m., an hour and a half before the event started. The cold weather and light misty rain did not deter these adventure seekers as they waited for their chance to become airborne, if only for a moment.
"It's something that I could bring to the students who probably wouldn't have experienced it otherwise," said event organizer Maria Lemos.
But some students were not impressed. The balloon was tethered to a car and the baseball diamond and ropes were held by members of the Idaho Civic Air Patrol so that it only went a little bit above the tree tops before coming back down again.
"That's like 20 feet," said ISU student Danton Bradshaw. "I could climb a chain link fence and get higher than that."
Bradshaw, his wife Andrea and newborn daughter Lily had waited for more than an hour to ride in the balloon, but after seeing the shortly limited ride they decided to go to out for breakfast instead of standing in line for their two-minute turn in the balloon.
However, other students who actually rode in the balloon appreciated the experience.
"It's fun because you feel like you're floating," said Scott Brunger. "It was definitely worth the $2."
"It's a nice tester to see what it is like," said Katie Brunger.
Other balloon riders agreed.
"This is one of the reasons I like ISU, " Carlie Fisher said, "because you get to do fun stuff like this."
And although Hilary Fuller would have liked to go higher, she said it was a good ride and ISU should bring it back next year.
The experience was even educational for the young cadets holding ropes that kept the balloon ground bound. Aerospace education is part of the curriculum for the cadets, and that includes hot air balloons.
"They get the educational side as the fun side," said Captain George Breshears, squadron commander for the Pocatello chapter of the ICAP. Breshears said that ICAP is basically ROTC for young people ages 12-18 and are made up of youth in the community. The cadet's aerospace education include five airplane flights and five glider flights.
"The first time (the cadets fly an airplane) is pretty intimidating," Breshears said. "But then they think it is pretty cool to fly over their school and take pictures of their houses."
Students and community members started lining up at Bartz Field on Saturday at 7:30 a.m., an hour and a half before the event started. The cold weather and light misty rain did not deter these adventure seekers as they waited for their chance to become airborne, if only for a moment.
"It's something that I could bring to the students who probably wouldn't have experienced it otherwise," said event organizer Maria Lemos.
But some students were not impressed. The balloon was tethered to a car and the baseball diamond and ropes were held by members of the Idaho Civic Air Patrol so that it only went a little bit above the tree tops before coming back down again.
"That's like 20 feet," said ISU student Danton Bradshaw. "I could climb a chain link fence and get higher than that."
Bradshaw, his wife Andrea and newborn daughter Lily had waited for more than an hour to ride in the balloon, but after seeing the shortly limited ride they decided to go to out for breakfast instead of standing in line for their two-minute turn in the balloon.
However, other students who actually rode in the balloon appreciated the experience.
"It's fun because you feel like you're floating," said Scott Brunger. "It was definitely worth the $2."
"It's a nice tester to see what it is like," said Katie Brunger.
Other balloon riders agreed.
"This is one of the reasons I like ISU, " Carlie Fisher said, "because you get to do fun stuff like this."
And although Hilary Fuller would have liked to go higher, she said it was a good ride and ISU should bring it back next year.
The experience was even educational for the young cadets holding ropes that kept the balloon ground bound. Aerospace education is part of the curriculum for the cadets, and that includes hot air balloons.
"They get the educational side as the fun side," said Captain George Breshears, squadron commander for the Pocatello chapter of the ICAP. Breshears said that ICAP is basically ROTC for young people ages 12-18 and are made up of youth in the community. The cadet's aerospace education include five airplane flights and five glider flights.
"The first time (the cadets fly an airplane) is pretty intimidating," Breshears said. "But then they think it is pretty cool to fly over their school and take pictures of their houses."
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