LEWISTON — It wasn’t early morning rain that threatened to ground pilot Bill Colyer and his balloon “Last Penny” Sunday morning. It was a blown alternator in his chase truck.
“Yesterday, it was acting a little funny,” said Pat Anderson, head of the chase crew. “Today, it stopped working.”
Anderson put out the call on the Internet and the Sun Journal’s live video feed, but luckily a replacement was found nearby.
Matthew Conklin of Turner stepped forward. He was already volunteering to help land “Great Balls of Fire” but figured they two balloons would land nearby.
“I’m going to do both,” he said, laughing maniacally.
He was joined by Mike Woolf of Lewiston who crewed for specialty balloon “Sunny Boy” this weekend. But Sunday’s rain kept that balloon grounded, so Woolf said he was free to help.
“It’s just what we do,” Woolf said. “We try to help each other out.”
The balloon pilots that flew Sunday morning wasted no time getting airborne as the 22nd Great Falls Balloon Festival kicked of its third and final day.
The festival continues Sunday with live music with The Veayo Twins and Audio Vibe on the Lewiston Stage and Downeast Brass, JimmyJo n’ the Jumbol’Ayuhs and Sonic Nova on the Auburn stage.
The Pirates of the Dark Rose will put on a puppet show at 10 a.m. and a pirate battle at noon in Lewiston. They’ll move across the river to Auburn’s Festival Plaza for pirate weapons demonstrations at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
The final balloon launch of the festival is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday.
Pilot Dave Reineke, owner of specialty balloon Peg Leg Pete the Pirate Parrot said he decided to stay on the ground Sunday morning because of the rain. He’s confident that balloons will fly Sunday night for the final official launch of the festival.
“I know they (the other balloons) wanted to get up and get flying before it rained,” Reineke said. “But if it rains this afternoon, it should be cleared up for tonight’s launch.”
National Weather Service forecasts Sunday are calling for rain in Lewiston-Auburn off and on Sunday, but partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the high 60s by launch time.
#GFBalloonFest: Watch the launch; share the launch
If you can’t make it to the Great Falls Balloon Festival this weekend, you can still watch each balloon launch on SunJournal.com. We will be sharing photos and videos of the festival fun in our social networks.
Look for our coverage at:
- SunJournal.com/BalloonFestival
- SunJournal on Instagram
- @SunJournal on Twitter
- Lewiston Sun Journal on Facebook
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- Balloons dip down into the Androscoggin River while performing a “splash and dash” during the morning launch of the Great falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston on Sunday.
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- “We come every year,” said Phillip Smith of Gorham as he and his family watched the morning launch of the Great Falls Balloon Festival from the Longley Bridge in Lewiston on Sunday. From left are Isabelle, 5; Emma, 8; and Sue and Phillip Smith.
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- Balloons dip down into the Androscoggin River while performing a “splash and dash” during the morning launch of the Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston on Sunday.
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- Balloons fly over Great Falls between Lewiston and Auburn during the morning launch of the Great Falls Balloon Festival on Sunday.
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- “I’m not holding my breath today,” said Moe James of Lewiston as he and his wife, Ronda, waited to see if the balloons would launch on Sunday morning. The rain held off and the balloons did fly during the morning launch.
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- Emma Madore, 3, of Lewiston grabs a good spot to set up her chair for the morning launch of the Great Falls Balloon Festival on Sunday. “We have been here every morning,” said Madore’s mother, Amy.
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- Lillyn Provencher, 8, and her brother Isaiah Colson, 6, of Lisbon wake up slowly as they wait for balloons to launch at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. “We had a late night last night,” said the sibling’s mother, Crystal Provencher-Colson.
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