Night Glow’s a gas

Curled up on the ground with a bowl of popcorn, the Maples family had a delicious snack to go with the show Friday night at Seymour High School.

Bright colors shone through the 11 hot air balloons that were spread out on the lawn for this year's newest Oktoberfest attraction, the Balloon Glow.

The eyes of Joseph Maples, 7, grew wide as each of the pilots shot flames of hot air into their balloons.

"This is the first time," he said of seeing a hot air balloon. "But I've seen them on TV."

Joseph sat with his brother, Matthew, 6, his sister, Samantha, 4, and his mom, Tricia. After spending part of their day at Oktoberfest in downtown Seymour, Tricia said they went home to grab a snack and headed out to the high school.

"This little girl here called it balloon fireworks," Tricia said of her daughter, who was sitting on her lap.

As for the balloon chase teams, many found it an exciting preview to Saturday's Balloon Race. Jennifer Scherschel and her husband, Eric Eaton of Columbus, have been flying hot air balloons for 15 years; this was their first time for the Oktoberfest.

"Tonight is ideal; we fly usually just morning and evening when the wind is mild," Scherschel said of the weather. "It's like any other sport; it's compelling to do and it's exciting to be here."

Their 7,700-cubic-foot balloon, "The Breeze," was one of the 22 balloons in Saturday's race, which brought teams in from Kentucky and Ohio.

The race, sponsored by RE/Max, began in the soccer field behind Seymour High School.

"The race is a little bit of a misnomer because we don't have a speed contest; it's whoever gets closest to the target wins," said Jeff Menchhofer, pilot of the RE/Max balloon. "We call this hare and hound, dogs and bunnies; I'm the bunny, so I have to take off first. Then when I get to a landing spot, I spread out my target and they have little bean bags; they come by and drop their bags."

Many spectators were questioning the direction of the race and why they don't fly over the Oktoberfest downtown. Since hot air balloons have no way of steering, they depend on wind for direction.

"We are headed due south and if the airport works out and there's not much airplane traffic, we might just land at the airport," Menchhofer said. "You'll feel those occasional gusts, and that's from the sun, what's called surface heating."

He said he was waiting for the gusts to settle before starting Saturday's race.

Sandy Hackman of RE/Max in Seymour said in the past they've had up to an hour delay waiting for the wind to settle.

"Which is sometimes a little hard on the families waiting, but it's worth the wait," she said. "Most of them come prepared with lawn chairs and we've got snacks, so we can keep them happy."

Food for the snack stand is donated by Jay C Food Stores and Pepsi, and gas for the balloons is donated by Jackson-Jennings Co-op. Fifth Third Bank is also a sponsor of the event. All the money raised from the race is donated to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

"We like to give the checks to Riley; they are a good cause," Hackman said. "You can only go to Riley once and want to help them again."

The event typically raises $600, Virgie Lucas of RE/Max said.

Once the gusts had settled, Menchhofer filled up his balloon and was off, signaling the other balloon teams to begin filling their balloons with cold air. Once the balloons are filled, they turn on the propane burners, fire and heat shooting out, raising the balloon to the sky. The crowd cheered as each balloon lifted off the ground.

This is Menchhofer's 30th year flying and his 11th year for the event.

"I always have liked the view," he said. "The best ride was when a little girl went for a ride with her dad. The little girl, who was 8 years old, turned to her dad and said, ‘Dad, does everyone know you can see the whole world from up here?'

"It's a little bit of an exaggeration, but it sure feels like it sometimes."