By Patricia Bogumil
Editor
Final tallies were still being compiled by the Chamber of Commerce as of press time Wednesday, but last weekend’s Balloonfest in Waterford likely drew a record number of participants.
Some, like the Eric and Amy Olson family of Franklin, had a better time than they ever dreamed possible.
Here’s how Amy tells it:
On Friday, the Olsons were parked on the grass at the balloon festival watching the activities, when Kathy Lester-Ross, a balloon pilot from Kansasville, came over to talk.
They had never met her before, Amy Olson said. But Lester-Ross works as a respiratory therapist and wanted to ask Eric how he likes his particular brand of ventilator.
Eric suffered a spinal cord injury in a diving accident years ago, and is paralyzed below the neck and dependent on his ventilator, Amy Olson explained.
After a few minutes Lester-Ross asked if they’d like to come up close to the balloons. She introduced the Olsons as her “adopted crew” to anyone who asked, and brought them all right into the thick of the action.
“It was the neatest experience!” Amy Olson said.
Eric was in engineering school when he had his diving accident, so he especially liked seeing all the physics in action that are an inherent part of hot air ballooning, she explained.
Lester-Ross and her husband, David, also a pilot, spent a lot of time talking with them Friday evening and explaining the details of ballooning, she added. “What great people – so very kind and giving!”
Each of the pilots whom they approached Friday evening were in differing parts of their inflation and launch procedures, Lester-Ross said.
But each “immediately allowed us to get close to their systems, for the family to get pictures, and for Eric’s grin to get wider with each minute,” she said.
Jim Phillips, who’s been at the heart of the Waterford Balloonfest since its inception four years ago, said organizers try to make sure people with physical needs – whether confined to a wheelchair or unable to safely navigate uneven ground – can get up close to see clearly.
Lester-Ross said her experiences with the Olson family Friday evening reminded her why her balloon is named “Inspiration.”
“Every year, because of it, we are inspired to bring happiness to others,” she said, adding: “See you in Waterford in July 2015!”
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