Timeline of Ballooning in Champaign County
June 1973 - Tom Gabel wins the 1973 U.S. Hot Air Balloon Pilot Champaionship in Indianola, Iowa.
July 4, 1973 - Hot-air balloons are flown by Wayne Shaw and Jerry Kinkade at Centennial Park, Champaign, for the Independence Day celebration.
November 1973 - Tom Gabel moves to Urbana.
1974 – Joe Ream and Ralph Senn, aka “The Flying Tomato Brothers,” owners of Garcia’s Pizza in a Pan, notice Tom Gabel flying around Champaign County and become interested in hot air balloons. Ream and Senn quickly realized the value of advertising with hot air balloons. Their 7-story “flying tomato” was the first specialty-shaped balloon licensed in the United States. They flew their new balloon over Memorial Stadium in the 1974 Homecoming game. After the game, they experienced record sales at each of their five Garcia locations, including Rantoul.
Spring 1975 – Tom Gabel opens Balloon Loft, one of four licensed balloon repair shops in the country. He operated out of his home 110 S Cottage Grove Ave, Urbana.
June 28-29, 1975 – First Heartland Heritage Balloon race held. Organized by Tom Gabel, Alice Fletcher, and her son Rod Fletcher, the race drew top balloonists from around the country and continued through the late 1970s. The first race occurred at the Champaign County Fairgrounds and Centennial Park, where twelve balloonists competed.
1976-1977 – Raymond “Andy” Anderson opens A-1 Balloon Service, one of five repair stations in the United States. He operated out of his home at 706 W Washington, Urbana.
May/August 1985 – Champaign Park District sets limits on hot air balloon take-off sites. Parks where take-offs were allowed include Dodds, Hessel, Morrissey, Mattis, Robeson, and Centennial Park (north of Sangamon Dr.). In August, the district approved Garden Hills, Hazel Park, Moore Park, Washington Park, and West Side Park to be take-off sites. The district also required that balloonists hold a free year-long permit from the park district and carry proof that they have at least $300,000 in public liability insurance with the district named as one of the insured.
June 6-7, 1987 – Danville hosts its first Balloon Classic at Vermilion County Airport. Sixty-five hot-air balloons from as far away as Florida and Idaho competed that first year for cash prizes and a new car. The Classic eventually became sponsored by Oldsmobile and lasted until 2002. Danville is still a strong ballooning community with its latest festival, Balloons over Vermilion entering its seventh year in 2023.
December 1987 – Urbana Park District hosts Winter Glow in Blair Park. In addition to the 10 - 80-foot-tall Christmas ornaments, tethered hot-air balloons, they also had carolers and hot chocolate. The event was also known as “Candles in the Sky” and was an annual Urbana Park District event through 2000s.
Spring 1989 – Champaign Park District launched a hot air balloon program, including an instructional program on ballooning and six promotional rides. The course was taught by Stan Jenkins, owner of Spirit of Champaign Balloon Company.
1990 – Balloon Association of Greater Illinois (BAGI) is created. Headquartered in Champaign, the group hosts monthly meetings throughout the year. By 1993 the group had 40 families as members. The group was also instrumental in installing a permanent exhibit on hot air ballooning at the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum in Rantoul, with members donating their balloons to be on exhibit. The Museum closed in 2015. BAGI is still an active organization in 2023.
1992 – Tom Gabel takes a job piloting balloons for TransWorld Safaris Ltd in Kenya. He died from malaria complications in 1995.
1998 - 1999 – Rantoul hosts the U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championships at the former Chanute Air Force Base for a week in August of each year.
August 1999 - First ever National Hot Air Balloon Women's Competition, as part of the U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championships in Rantoul.
September 23-24, 2022 – First annual Champaign County Balloon Festival is held at Dodds Park in Champaign.