For the second year in a row, I volunteered during the (45th) Annual Quechee Balloon Festival. Because of other plans I had during the weekend, I selected a volunteer slot for after work today - at 1630, I left Hanover and drove (via I-89 and US-4) to the Quechee Green (arrived just before 1700). With about 45 minutes before my session began, I walked around the venue and checked out the vendor stalls. I ran into my "friend" from last year (John, the owner of North Branch Vineyard) and we chatted for a bit. At 1745, I checked in with the volunteer coordinator (Heather) and was assigned to put on bracelets for festival attendees who'd pre-paid for their tickets. The overall feelings of the visitors during my slot were upbeat and happy and there were almost no issues for me to handle during the next three hours. I worked with Barbara and Melissa and filled in for several volunteers who never arrived for their shift. Meanwhile, the background of the overall festival vibe was a bit tense and anxious because the steady wind was threatening the balloon launch at 1800. Several people asked for refunds when it became clear that it was too windy for anyone to get off the ground. Meanwhile, most of the kids I saw had fun playing in the games and "bouncy house" area - they didn't seem to notice that they were missing out on anything... When 1930 came and went without any balloons launching, the goals of the attendees shifted to the planned "Glow Up" (crews stay on the ground but light up the insides of their balloons). At one point, an interesting Dinosaur Egg balloon completely inflated and wowed the crowd. Also, a good band was playing throughout the delay. At 2045, the gates closed for the evening and (with three hours of volunteering under out belts) we were freed up to go watch something called a "mini glow up". Not knowing what this was, I spoke with one crew - they admitted that all they were going to be able to do anything except "candles", where the basket and torch burn in concert with some music. This didn't sound too interesting to me so I decided to head towards home. It took a little while for me to exit the venue but I still made it home by 2110. Hope I can get back to Quechee before the end of the Festival - I've got a pass for the whole weekend but it's just a matter of whether I've got enough time between other activities. We'll see!
