Helen hot air balloon race takes off today

by Joe Padgett

Balloons gather in Helen during a prior event.

White County News

The 35th Annual Helen-to-Atlantic Hot Air Balloon Race begins this morning in Helen.

The race is expected to start sometime between 7 to 8 a.m., weather permitting, but the festivities in Helen will stretch well into Saturday evening.

“Right now, we have a half-dozen confirmed for the race, and it could be more,” Helen Balloonmeister Tarp Head said. “We'll probably have another 15 balloons doing local flying.”

The balloons doing local flying plan to take off at 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day. They hope to stay airborne 1-2 hours, but everything depends upon the weather.

Rides in tethered balloons will be available to the public Saturday evening. Rides will last a couple minutes and cost $10 for adults and $5 for children.

“If it's a pretty weekend, there will be a big crowd Saturday evening,” Head said. “But the balloons will stay up until everyone's had their ride.”

Pilots of the non-tethered balloons request that local landowners place a white sheet in their yards to signal to signal that balloons are welcome to land on their property.

“We try to establish good relations between landowners and the ballooning community,” said Desiree Head, who acts as chair of the landowner relations committee. “We don't want to intrude on the landowner's private property, but the landing options may be limited. We always try to make contact with the landowner to ask permission.”

Each balloon will have a chase vehicle on the ground which communicates with the pilot in the balloon. Part of the job of the chase vehicle is trying to contact landowners prior to the balloon landing.

“The balloonist are very friendly and will often have a souvenir of some kind for the landowner,” Desiree Head said. “Most of the time, they are very open to the balloons landing on their property.”

The Helendorf Inn and Conference Center is hosting the event, as it has from the very beginning.

“Through all these years, we have developed a deep love of the event,” Cathrine Cleiman of the Helendorf said. Cleiman says the event has made a big impact during its 35 years.

“There was a family several years ago that just so happened to be in Helen the week of the race,” she said. “He is a big, strong man, so he was asked to volunteer with setting up the balloons. He's been coming back every year now, specifically for this event. Now this man has a whole new family of friends.”

Cleiman says there will be opportunities again this year for volunteers to become involved in the festivities. “The pilots come from all across the country and some won't have enough crew with them. If people would like to volunteer their time, they can call the Helendorf.”

The Helendorf Inn may be reached by phoning 706-878-0381. For additional information and a complete schedule of events, visit www.helenballoon.com.