Our Balloonmeister At Work

We're quite proud of our Balloonmeister at Carolina BalloonFest. Sam Parks not only oversees all of the balloon pilots and crew and flying activities at our event, but will have just come off serving as Balloonmeister at the very large Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico. That event begins tomorrow and as you can imagine, being responsible for the safe launches of over 500 balloons is a job reserved for the best of the best.

Sam puts that same expertise to work in Statesville. He heads up our local Flying Events Committee, which is comprised of local balloon pilots, crew, and enthusiasts who work to make sure the ballooning part of our festival is a great experience for pilots, crew, and our spectators.

Sam became involved in ballooning the way most pilots do....by serving as a member of a chase crew. These are the folks who help get the balloon inflated, then follow it to its landing spot where they help take it down and pack it up, We'll talk more about these folks in a later blog.

Sam and his wife Winna live in Statesville and own and operate Parks Heating & Air. Sam is not only a hot air balloon pilot, but flies gas balloons as well.

We'll try to keep an eye on Sam as he is at work at Fiesta, but until then here is a picture of Sam the pilot in his balloon, flying at a festival this past weekend in Madisonville, TN. Yes, he's been quite a busy man and will continue to be through the end if October. When you see him at Carolina BalloonFest, give him a smile and thank him for all he does for our community and for representing Statesville so well in the ballooning community around the world.

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