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In brief
Promotional
balloon
damaged
during
prank
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Editor
A large promotional
balloon located at
Seaforth's main.
intersection advertising the
weekend's hot air balloon'
rides, received $1,500 in
damages after it was
moved by local pranksters.
The $16,000 balloon,
along with a blower and
lighting, were found in a
West William Street
backyard Sunday morning
after Skyworks Balloon
Company owner/operator
Dave Mounsey reported
the balloon missing to
police.
Hot air balloon rides
were available all weekend
at the Seaforth Public
School grounds as . a
fundraiser for the Seaforth
Cooperative Children's
Centre.
Mounsey and fellow
pilot Stewart , Ashman
drove through the main
intersection Sunday
morning and were shocked
to find the promotional
balloon missing.
"You should have seen
our faces when we drove
by. It's a sour note," said
Ashman.
"It sort of wrecks the
whole event," said Kevin
Williamson, one of the
organizers of the
fundraiser.
Mounsey said he thought
the prank was funny until
discovering the amount of
damage to the balloon.
"We're here for a good
cause and as long as the
people who did the prank
are making a donation to
the daycare • and the
balloon's in good shape
I'm willing to turn a blind
eye," he said.
However, he added he
will press charges if those
who damaged the balloon
do not pay for damages in
a week's time.
Mounsey said the prank
could affect the
pocketbook of the charity
he's raising money for
since the balloon acts as a
beacon to where the
balloon rides are located.
Police found the 26' by
15' diameter inflatable
balloon tied to the
Izackyard fence of a West
William Street residence
around 10 a.m. Sunday.
Mounsey said he doesn't
generally leave the balloon
up unattended but thought
it would be safe at
Seaforth's main
intersection.
Close to $2,000 was
raised by the fundraiser for
the daycare.
Seaforth
NHLers
happy
lockout
ended
...page ll
Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2005
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Jennifer Howden photo
Expositor reporter Jason Middleton smiles nervously as a hot air balloon lifts off
from the Seaforth Public School grounds on Saturday at 6:30 a.m. Pictured beside
him is Angie Cooper, who won a ride in a Seaforth daycare fundraiser.
Reporter goes up, up
and away in balloon ride
By Jason Middleton
Expositor Staff
There are a few perks to being a reporter.
Not only do you get to cover some cool
events, but sometimes you get to do things
other people don't get to do.
For example, this past Saturday I got to
fly high over Seaforth in a hot air balloon.
Why? I'm not sure, but it was cool.
I got to fly with the winner of a draw,
which raised money for the Seaforth Co-
operative Children's Centre and a
representative from Seaforth Insurance.
My girlfriend Jen and I arrived at the field
behind Seaforth Public School at 5:45 a.m.
on Saturday morning.
While she couldn't come in the balloon
with me, she tagged along in the rescue
truck that followed the balloon.
When you start out, the balloon is not
inflated. In fact, it's stretched out on the
grass and is inflated with a powerful fan
with a blade as powerful as an airplane
propeller.
Once the balloon is partially filled, the
balloon's pilot starts up the burner, which is
powered by 'propane, and bursts a 10 -foot
flame into the gigantic balloon.
If you're wondering why the balloon
would then rise, you've probably forgotten
that elementary science lesson — it heats and
it rises; it cools and it falls.
It only took two minutes of blowing hot
air into the balloon before it was fully
inflated and upright. The pilot then
instructed all four of us to enter the
balloon's basket.
As I entered the balloon, I looked at my
girlfriend and mouthed three words -
"Please save me."
See GRAVOL, Page 4
Come Home
Festival goes
off 'without
a hitch': Agar
By Jason Middleton
Expositor Staff
After a year and a half of
planning, Seaforth's
homecoming festival went
off without a hitch, said
organizer Maureen Agar.
People came from all over
Ontario,
Canada and
the globe this
pa s t
weekend, to
participate in
Seaforth's
Come Home
to the
Country.
"This is the
type of
community
where we
like getting
together and
everybody
live in such a great town,"
Agar explained in an article
in the Expositor last week.
While there are no pla,ns
for a Come Home festival
for next year, Agar said that
Seaforth should start
thinking about
a yearly
festival that
can be held.
"I think it's
something the
people need to
think about,"
Agar said,
adding that
Zurich has a
bean festival
and Port Elgin
has its
pumpkin
festival.
"When you
Quoted
'It was great to
see people
hugging on
the street and
running into
old friends,' --
organizer
Maureen Agar
likes coming
home to Seaforth," Agar
said.
During the weekend Agar
said that she had heard of
people coming from Las
Vegas, Bermuda, Calgary
and Zimbabwe to the
festival.
"We had a lot of people
from all over," Agar said.
While she was pleased
with the events, Agar
admitted that she enjoyed
seeing people embracing
their old friends.
"It was great to see people
hugging on the street and
running into old friends,"
she said.
Although they were people
who came to the festival
with no connection to
Seaforth, Agar said she
heard of a couple who left
town impressed with
Seaforth's friendliness.
The couple attended the
luncheon at the Legion on
Sunday, and were impressed
that everyone was talking to
them.
That's part of Seaforth,"
she said. "It doesn't matter
who you are, we're friendly
and we'll say hello to you."
A year and a half ago,
Agar began planning the
festival with some other
people to help boost town
spirits.
"I just hope it builds up
the spirits of the town and
makes everybody think
about how lucky we are to
see how well this did,
Seaforth needs something to
draw people here from other
areas," Agar said.
In preparation for the
Come Home to the Country
festival, Agar said that she
was extremely impressed
with the decorating that the
downtown stores did.
"The town looked great
with everybody decorating
their stores," she said,
adding that the scarecrows
helped add an element of
humour to the weekend.
So far, Agar said that she
has heard from several
people that the weekend was
a success. She has also
received some e-mails from
people who were impressed
with the weekend.' •
"If you didn't have fun, it
was your own fault because
there was a lot of stuff to
do," Agar said.
At the Come Home to the
Country festival's official
opening on Friday night,
Homecoming '95 co-
organizer Joe Steffler
commended Agar for her
work on the festival.
Steffler said that it's
amazing how Agar
organized the festival in one
year, when it took three
years to organize
Homecoming '95.
"Maureen deserves a lot of
credit," Agar said.
Huron East Mayor Joe
See COME, Page 2
Visitors discover Seaforth's history at Doors Open
By Jason Middleton
Expositor Staff
While the official number of people attending the
two-day Doors Open event in Seaforth hasn't been
tallied yet, Huron East's economic development
officer Ralph Laviolette said that there were close to
2,000 site visits to the 20 locations open in the area.
Since February, Laviolette explained organizers
have been busy trying to organize the event.
"I think we've done very well in our first year at
having this," he said. "If we want to continue, we
have a good base to work from."
"Doors Open is a very popular program after
having begun in Toronto and larger cities," said
Laviolette. "It is now floating in to the smaller
town."
Many people pick up the brochures earlier in the
season, Laviolette said. Then they use it to learn
about other places.
Laviolette estimated that one-third of the visitors
are from Seaforth, one-third from the area and the
rest are visitors from abroad.
"A non -tourist place like Seaforth and Brussels
are getting more people come and visit them than
we could have expected," said Laviolette.
Some of the more popular sites were the town
hall, Cardno Hall, Northside United Church, St.
Thomas Anglican Church and Box Furniture.
Toronto historian Sue Knight and her mother Joan
admitted that they were hoping for more tour guides
in Seaforth to help them understand the history of
the buildings.
"lf they are going to advertise that it's on and
people make an effort (to come), you should be able
to see the sites with a tour guide," Joan said.
Laviolette said that Seaforth's Doors Open was
done differently without a lot of volunteers helping
to give tours.
"Each Doors Open is done differently depending
on how people want to organize it," said Laviolette.
"In our case we did a brochure representing the
history of the area."
The 90 -page historical brochure produced for
Door Open in Seaforth and Brussels was a big hit
among visitors.
"The little brochure we're handing out tells the
story of 20 little villages including Seaforth and
Brussels," said Laviolette.
But, Sue wished that there were more people on
hand to answer questions.
"Even though the people are there they are not
See SEAFORTH, Page 2