The 26th Annual Great Wellsville Balloon Rally Parade is this Saturday July 12
By Kathryn Ross, pictured in purple
You will never know what embarrassment is, until you march down the Main Street of your hometown dressed as a 5 foot 8, and three quarters inch tall purple balloon.
The 26th Annual Great Wellsville Balloon Rally Parade will hit the street this Saturday at 11 a.m. It’s a great parade, the biggest in Wellsville, and is right up there in size with the Andover 4th of July Parade and the Rushford Labor Day Parade.
It started in 1999 when Franklinville High School graduate Kimberly Pressler won the Miss USA Beauty Pageant in February. At that time, Ken Lotter was the chairman of the Great Wellsville Balloon Rally Committee. He saw the pageant on television and was impressed that a local woman had won. He brought it up to the Balloon Rally Committee and they voted to have a parade to honor Pressler and the Rally.
It turned out to be quite a grand affair. Harts Jewelry put together a float worthy of a queen. Pressler resplendent in her Miss USA crown, sash and gown sat on a throne encompassed within a huge diamond ring that was decorated with flowers and balloons. It was wonderful. There was only one sad note.
For that first parade it was an extremely hot day. Long time Balloon Rally Committee member and my mentor in the Rally, David Hullihen was dressed in his heavy Willie the Wizard robes and marching in the parade. Willie the Wizard was a favorite at local kid’s birthday parties and beloved by many. After the parade, Dave collapsed and was rushed to Jones Memorial Hospital. He passed away.
That next weekend, the 1999 Great Wellsville Balloon Rally was dedicated in his honor, and all the committee members wore black armbands in remembrance. Today, there is a marble obelisk about four feet tall at the Balloon Rally site on Lagoon Field, near the sign board which has a map of the village. It is a monument in remembrance of Dave Willie the Wizard and his dedication and service to the Great Wellsville Balloon Rally.
That, I believe, is the only tragic thing that has ever happened in connection with the parade. That and the costs Pressler charged to the Rally. So, the tradition continues, bringing me to one of the most embarrassing moments in my life.
I was elected as chairman of the Great Wallsville Balloon Rally four times in the first part of the century, this century. It wasn’t because I was such a great organizer or chairman. No one else wanted the job. And I had many problems. One year I wrecked my knee and couldn’t get around the site. I borrowed a friend’s golf cart and scooted around the field in it. Another year I was diagnosed with diabetes and while my eyes got adjusted to my new medication, my eyesight was severely compromised. My older sister ferried me around to all my writing gigs and I boosted the size of the printing on my computer and borrowed another golf cart for the Rally. I owed all my success to the great committee members I had working for me. They knew their jobs and did them.
Two of those members, who later became cohorts in developing Music on the Lawn with my sister and I were the late Nancy Lotter and the still active Lynn McCutcheon. They convinced me to join them in marching down the street covered with balloons. While they each wore a colorful array of balloons, I opted for purple balloons. There was a purple hot air balloon that I liked Funny though, when I got all decked out, I didn’t look so much like the hot air balloon I liked, as I did the Fruit of the Loom logo
It was fun. I got to embarrass my great niece Skylar Pratt, who was in the Marching Lions. I ballooned her as she waited in her place and thoroughly embarrassed the teenager. It is always good when you can do that to a teenager.
At the end of the parade, all three of us balloon people, ballooned our state senator Cathy Young, who was marching in the parade. It was all good fun, except. I didn’t know we’d been captured on film for posterity. I’m just glad my face isn’t too recognizable in that old color photo that still pops up from time to time.
This year I’m riding in the parade. Wave to me on the Babcock Movie Theater float. I won’t be wearing balloons. Happy parade.
