Committe Reports

VP - Peter

The October Speaker will be Jennifer Garcia doing a recap of the 2022 Balloon Fiesta with lots of numbers and a few photos

The November Speaker will be our Crew Development Chair, Sue Palmer taking a look on how crewing for a gas balloon chase differs from hot air balloon chasing.

There is no General meeting in December.

Doug Gantt and other officers are still exploring possibilities for new AAAA launch sites at various locations in and around Rio Rancho.

Flying Events - Doug

Nothing to report for October, except to say I wasn’t in charge of the weather this year…..LOL

Upcoming Events: November Flying Event – November 12, Rio Rancho, Location TBD

December Flying Event – December 10 & 11 – Jingle Bell Rally, Balloon Fiesta Field

And Looking Ahead to 2023: January Flying Event – 1/14/23 - Rio Rancho – Location TBD February Flying Event – Friends & Lovers Rally – 2/11 & 12 – Balloon Fiesta Field

Way and Means - Karen

The Pin Contest New Items in the store, specifically can Koozies. I’d love for people to buy online and come and pick up the items at the meeting in September (we should have a huge turnout so it would be nice to avoid any crazy sales the day of). Pins, Koozies, stickers, glove clips, etc. The big ticket can coolers are here: https://hotairballooning. org/product/frost-buddy-universal-can-cooler/ They are a fundraiser item, hence the price. Special Events - Chris Jingle Bell Non Rally will be Dec 10th and 11th at ABIF. A link with the information regarding the event will come out on the AAAA website and facebook page. We are looking for donations for raffles if you would like to make a donation please contact Karn Converse. We are bringing exciting new games filling the air with holiday spirt and looking forward to seeing everyone at the event. If you would like to get more involved in helping with special events please contact Chris McCord.

Tales from the Chase Truck

It has been suggested to our Vice President Peter, that maybe AAAA members would like to hear stories from Chase Crews about their experiences, fun and high jinks during the Chase.

If you are interested in submitting a Reader’s Digest version of your story, please send a Word file, along with photos, to Blair Kaufman at president@hotairballooning.org for consideration.

Please include the author’s name, location of story event and names of pertinent persons in the article. The photos should be high res jpegs with information of the photographer’s name included.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email Lynda Crispino at cloudbouncer@hotairballooning.org