Don Dougherty discovered a passion for hot air balloons at one of Colorado Springs’ first Labor Day Lift Off events, when he was 8 years old.
“My parents brought me out here to this event, and I fell in love,” Dougherty said. “I think it was all the colors and the awe of these things floating in the air.”
The Labor Day Lift Off is a 40-year tradition in the Springs. Balloon lovers from across the country come each year to launch their brightly colored contraptions into the morning sky. This year 66 hot air balloons made the trip from 12 states, including Utah, Missouri and Texas. There were balloons shaped like crabs, Darth Vader, Yoda and a dragon.
Dougherty, whose balloon is called Dark Sunrise, has flown in the event as a pilot since 1991.
He doesn’t fly hot air balloons for a living. Ballooning is Dougherty’s lifelong hobby, and it’s something he’s passed down to his stepdaughter, Eddi Rissman.
“She’s tied for the youngest female solo in a balloon,” Dougherty said.
Rissman piloted a balloon by herself a few days after her 13th birthday. If weather conditions had been better, Dougherty said she would have flown before her birthday and captured the title of youngest female balloon solo.
The balloons will be back at Memorial Park at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for a balloon glow. They’re also scheduled to take flight again at 7 a.m. Sunday and Monday from Memorial Park in Colorado Springs.
The Richies, who named their checkered balloon Zippy, plan to fly their balloon all three days. It’s the Missouri couple’s third weekend in a row on the road, and they plan to head to Arkansas for another festival next weekend, Bob Richie said.
They discovered ballooning after their daughter stopped playing competitive soccer about 17 years ago.
“We had our weekends back, and we went to a balloon rally,” Richie said.
It was love at first sight. The couple started crewing for a local balloon pilot and pretty soon they bought a balloon of their own. They plan to fly Zippy at seven or eight events this year.
When asked what he loves about flying a hot air balloon Richie replied, “How many times have you ever looked up in the sky and wished you could soar like a bird.”
