2013 Art & Balloon Festival, August 30, 2013
Special edition of LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com Page 129
in the same direction this year.”
Mitchell said there is very little about the Lincoln Art
& Balloon Festival that his family doesn’t love.
“We love participating in the Lincoln event,” Mitchell
wrote in an email. “We LOVE our sponsor of 25 years,
Joan Parker and her staff at Logan County Title. We
love our crew every year who help to fly and celebrate.
We love the volunteers and appreciate all of the hours
they donate into making this event safe and fun for
everyone. We Love the Art Fair and always take home
too much beautiful artwork. We Love the downtown
shops, especially Bill Bree from Three Roses. He has
on more than one occasion, packaged our purchases
and allowed us to pick them up on Sunday before
heading home. We love the landowners who allow us
to take off and land on their property. We love THE
BLUE DOG INN and the Chinese family who run
First Wok and are always there to serve us late after
our flight. Everyone, including Mayor Keith Snyder,
has been extremely welcoming to our family and it has
been appreciated.”
Mitchell concluded: “Thank You Lincoln for 25 years
of great family-time, friendship building, shopping
and memories.”
[By NILA SMITH]
Lincoln welcomes 1st-time
pilot Jared Miller
in his Fiery Gizzard
This year the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of
Commerce and the community will welcome a new
balloonist into the fold at the 40th annual Lincoln
Art & Balloon Festival.
Jared Miller will be traveling to Lincoln from
Mount Pleasant, Iowa, with his colorful balloon, the
Fiery Gizzard. Picking this new balloon out from
the 33 that will be aloft on Friday and Saturday
evening should be easy. The balloon with its
brilliant colors will have its eyes on you while you
have your eyes on it!
Miller and his wife became interested in flying like
many other pilots, by serving as part of a balloon
crew. They experienced that first taste of ballooning
back in the 1990s when they crewed at a festival in
Miller's hometown of Bowling Green, Ky.
He has now been flying six years.
Miller said his favorite part of a balloon festival is
being around the people and watching how they
respond to the balloons.
“I still feel in awe of them (balloons),” Miller said,
“and I love to watch others learn about them.”
The Fiery Gizzard got its name from a trail near
Chattanooga, Tenn. Miller said he was told about the
trail by friends, but to him it just sounded like the
perfect name for a balloon.
Miller said he will be looking forward to the bag toss
competition on Saturday morning, and his only strategy
is to try to hit the “X.”
If you get the chance to welcome Miller to the festival,
be sure to do so. He and his wife enjoy meeting new
people and sharing their balloon with those who love
them as much as they do.
[By NILA SMITH]
