Fly, or Wheel your way to the Sky
I first came upon the mention of accessible hot air balloons when reading a press release from Ford Motors. My journey came to a head when I started searching on my own and found some great information about wheelchair accessible hot air balloon rides.
The balloon is called Serena’s Song. It was originally named for Serena, a young girl who was invited to her first ride to the sky at the age of 2. From then on, her father, Gray Waldman worked to make this a possibility for everyone across the US.
In 1985 he invested in his own hot air balloon and worked alongside his partner, Phil Gray, to build the program that would eventually go on tour.
The program has since been approved by the Federal Aviation Committee, and has since given more than 12,000 people across the country a chance to travel to heights never before thought to be possible. Waldman and Gray partnered up with ATC, a company that managed public transportation services, to help disseminate information about the balloon, and to secure funds for taking the adventure on national tours.
Here is a snippet from an article published on Enabled Online. It quotes Waldman, who I think sums it up best.
It takes 105,000 cubic feet of hot air to make Serena’s Song sing. The balloon is ten stories tall, and it climbs 100 feet on a tether that keeps it linked to the ground. Waldman says there’s never been an accident, but there have been many screams of joy.
“Kids see it inflate and their mouths open. Then I say, who’s gonna be first.” Walman says the young ones are usually awe struck when they get strapped into the gondola and the sun is shining through the balloon’s fabric.
The 2005 tour dates went from April to November, and they’re done for this year. In 2005, they travelled to many states including, Florida, Ohia, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, Kansas, California, and Arizona.
Here is a picture of the crew in Holland, Michigan on their last tour. From left to right are: Jim Long: ATC President and CEO, Gary Waldman: Serena’s Song Owner, Phil Gray: Serena’s Song Pilot, Dave Galanis: ATC Senior VP.
