Socked in by fog, Dick Varney waited as his fellow pilots filled their hot air balloons and fired up the propane burners.

He’d had his crew unroll his balloon Tranquility, but asked them to wait before filling it. About 45 minutes after the sunrise Friday morning, Varney and all the balloonists at Lewiston’s Simard/Payne Park were on hold, waiting for the fog to clear.
“Those guys are just burning propane, keeping their balloons warm while they wait,” Varney said. “I hate to do that.”
It’s the Yankee in him, he said. He hates to waste it, especially now that it’s so expensive.
“Think how much you pay to fill up the little tank on your grill, then add some zeros,” he said.
So he waited another 20 minutes or so, until a break in the fog appeared above the field. Less than 10 minutes later he was ready to go, the second balloon to leave the field and kick off the 16th annual Great Falls Balloon Festival.
Friday morning’s liftoff was perfect for onlookers and balloonists alike, with the sun peeling back the fog from downtown Lewiston just as the balloons took flight. Gentle winds let the balloons linger in clumps over the field and the Androscoggin River before helping them meander south.

It’s the peace and quiet that does it for Varney. He was originally afraid of heights before his first balloon ride, a gift from his wife.
“But you get in and it’s safe and it’s solid,” he said. “My first time up, it took about half an hour to lose my fear. Then the pilot asked if I wanted to fly it, and I said ‘If I do that, I’ll probably want to buy one.’”
He began taking flying lessons two weeks later and purchased his first balloon, Tranquility, two months later. That was 1991, and he’s added three more balloons to his collection &tstr; including the massive “Destiny,” a 210,000-cubic-foot yellow balloon capable of carrying 12 passengers. He’s tried fixed wing aircraft and flies a powered parachute as well.
But the balloons are his favorite. He flies for a fee out of his North Brookfield, Mass., home, giving rides to mark birthdays, anniversaries or just for people wanting to do something different.
“It’s so peaceful and quiet, other than me talking,” he said. “I sometimes think I’m having more fun than my passengers. It’s just pure joy, that’s why I do it.”
Changing weather patterns over the last decade have shortened the ballooning season.
“We used to fly six months out of the year, all summer long,” he said. “Now, we’re down to about three months, with all the spring rain we get. And October used to be one of the best times to fly, but I’ve only been up once in October in several years.”
Unlike many other balloonists, the Lewiston/Auburn festival is the only one he regularly attends.
“You can go to a balloon festival every weekend somewhere in the Northeast,” he said. “But this one has great scenery and plenty of places to land. There are backyards and farms and fields. And the people are wonderful.”
He enjoys flying within shouting distance of the houses and homes in the Twin Cities, something he can only do in a festival. He waves to the spectators as he passes, wishing them a good morning.
“The first 300, 400 feet, they’re always the most interesting,” he said. “Some people fly right through it, and airplanes, you never get to see it. But those first few hundred feet have people and that makes it more fun.”
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