Standing on the side of Louisiana 131, a few miles southwest of Vidalia, the 2015 Great Mississippi River Balloon Race became a reality Friday morning for our daughter Anna.

She woke herself up early with the anticipation of seeing a balloon in flight. Mom, Julie, had talked up the race a good bit the day before. Julie’s been a big fan since her first race while she was still in college and being recruited to accept a job at the newspaper.

As we headed toward the door, the two dogs happily headed back to their own beds; neither are particularly fans of the race or the loud burners that fuel the balloons’ lift.

A few sips of coffee and a few yawns later and we were headed south on highway 131.

As the roadway opened into farmland on one side and the protective Mississippi River levee on the other, things quickly came into focus for a somewhat bleary-eyed 2-year-old.

“I see them,” she said, pointing toward the side window of our vehicle.

A quick U-turn (my apologies to the truck I accidentally cut off in the process) and we nestled our car along the edge of the roadway, just at the foot of the levee.

“That one is pink,” she said a few minutes later after being released from the confines of her car seat and firmly clutching my neck.

In a few minutes we bumped into Ed and Mary Jane Gaudet who pulled up behind us on the side of the road. I always enjoy talking with the Gaudets as they’re each interesting on their own, but downright fascinating together.

In just a few minutes, we’d talked about Natchez, the balloon race, their recent travels, the newspaper, an art showing and the 50th anniversary of several Natchez Civil Rights era milestones.

That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about Natchez and the balloon race, the people that you get to meet — even if they’re long-time friends like the Gaudets.

Technically, this year’s race — the 30th of the race’s history — was Anna’s third balloon race, but far and away the one in which she’s been most cognizant and interested.

We watched as the balloonists and their hard-working, mostly volunteer crews scurried to their balloon’s touchdown spot and then meticulously broke the rig down and packed it back up for the next flight.

The concept of time was lost on Anna. Once the balloons had made it back to earth safely Anna had a simple request.

“Let’s see more,” she said, assuming we could pack back up and drive to another place where a few dozens balloons gracefully fall from the sky.

Her childlike understanding of the balloon race underscores what most of us think about the race — it’s pretty and enjoyable, but we don’t understand how it all comes together.

Behind the scenes of the race are scores of organizers, volunteers and sponsors.

Without each of them, the race wouldn’t take flight each year. Natchez owes a great deal of gratitude to all of those volunteers because the balloon race is an event that’s impact is felt far beyond the festival grounds.

The thousands of visitors who come to Natchez for the event certainly leave piles of cash in their wake — from purchasing gas to hotel rooms, the balloon race helps many businesses in the community vastly improve their weekend’s business.

The economic impact was lost on Anna and the dozens and dozens of children who were on the festival grounds Friday night for the balloon glow and its child-sized carnival rides. They were merely having fun, and that’s exactly what organizers want — an event at which people can have fun.

While it’s sad that the weather prevented the balloons from flying Saturday, here’s hoping they get some good weather today and that the balloon race celebrates another 30 years of success.

 

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.