Up in the Air (Finally) in Vermont
August 2, 2009 at 12:53 pm Tina Hay 2 comments
Posing inside the balloon before launching. From left: Charlene Gaus, Joelyn Niggel, Tina Hay, Butch Niggel
In my editor’s column in the Sept-Oct 2008 issue, I wrote about having been a part of one of the shortest hot-air balloon rides ever recorded. I had been up in Burlington, Vermont, to speak at a conference, and looked up Jeff Snyder ’02, a Penn Stater who is owner and chief pilot for Above Reality hot-air balloon rides. Unfortunately, the only day I could do a ride turned out to be drizzly and overcast, and after Jeff and his crew went to all the trouble to set up and launch, and after we had reached an altitude of, oh, 100 feet or so, the air-traffic control tower at the Burlington airport informed Jeff that we would need to land. Total flight time: About five minutes. (We landed in the same exact field we launched from!)
Charlene Gaus, aloft!
So this year, I’m back at the same conference in Burlington, teaching the basics of alumni magazines to rookie editors again, and this morning I finally got that long-awaited balloon ride. This one lasted a good hour or more, and the weather was perfect. I was joined by Charlene Gaus ’91, an Alumni Association regional director who happened to be in Burlington this weekend for an event sponsored by the Alumni Association’s Vermont chapter, and Butch Niggel, whose wife, Joelyn Beneigh Niggel ’74, is president of the Vermont chapter. (Plus a father-and-son duo from East Montpelier who were celebrating the son’s high-school graduation.)
Jeff Snyder ’02, owner and chief pilot of Above Reality hot-air balloons.
As for Joelyn, she’s done the balloon ride a few times already and today she decided to stay on the ground and take pictures of us.
You can see a slide show of about 30 or so shots from this morning’s adventure here.
Tina Hay, editor
Entry filed under: Alumni Association, Alumni Association chapters, Penn State alumni, The Penn Stater magazine. Tags: Above Reality hot air balloon rides, Burlington Vt., Butch Niggel, Charlene Gaus, hot air balloons, Jeff Snyder, Joelyn Beneigh, Joelyn Niggel.
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1. Greg Cresswell | August 5, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Tina ………… the most spectacular picures of Vermont. Thank you.
Greg Vermont Chapter PSU Alumni Assn. in Newport Center Vt.
2. A Hot Air Balloon Over the Grand Canyon « | January 18, 2010 at 9:55 am
[...] 18, 2010 Last August I wrote about getting a chance to take a hot-air balloon ride in Vermont, courtesy of Jeff Snyder ’02, who is owner and chief pilot for a balloon company called Above [...]