Aboard the 'Seasons Change'

HELEN - Thirty hot air balloons lifted off in Helen Thursday morning, launching the 35th annual Helen Balloon Festival, highlighted by the country's only long distance hot air balloon race, the Helen to the Atlantic.

Only a handful of them were making the race, though. The others, like the "Seasons Change," would stay in Helen through Saturday for the festival, many of them offering tethered or free-flight rides to the public. The "Seasons Change" is owned and piloted by Carol Weiner from Akron, Ohio.

"This is the first thing I found in my life that gives me total peace," Weiner said, as she guided the balloon over Helen and the nearby mountains, some 300 feet off the ground. "I can totally erase everything from my mind and just concentrate on being here."

Weiner, a balloonist for 27 years, owns five lighter-than-air craft and has involved her entire family in the hobby.

Her 20-year-old daughter, Kelsey, is a student pilot and co-piloted Thursday morning's flight with Mom.

Hot air balloons are at the wind's mercy, but you can navigate one if you know what you're doing, and Weiner displayed skill based on experience in finding a landing spot on a driveway a few miles from Helen.

Henrietta Mance did not expect to see a hot air balloon in front of the house.

"I came to the front door and said 'Lord have mercy!'," she exclaimed, when she saw the balloon, as tall as a seven-story building, towering over her.

Son-in-law Neal Dorsey did not quite know what to think either when Weiner's balloon made its unexpected, but safe landing.

"It was like I was dreaming. I didn't know what was going on," he said.

The flight lasted about an hour-and-a-half under clear skies and ideal flight conditions.

Chris Strong and his family from Dahlonega were among the visitors on hand at launch time around 7 a.m.

Strong had seen pictures, but never the real thing first hand.

"The police officer told us to stick right around here in this field and you'd get to see your fill of balloons," Strong said, as he watched the balloons fill with hot air, then lift gently into the blue morning sky.