Balloon museum wows with "air-mazing" events
Mar. 27—The light chill in the Tuesday morning air could have fooled anyone into thinking it was mid-October, not the end of March. The radio-controlled hot air balloon that was being inflated in the back of the Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum probably would have done the same.
But this is indeed the end of March, which also marks the beginning of spring break for many students across Albuquerque. To mark this occasion, the Balloon Museum hosted several springtime "air-mazing" activities, as the museum and city promoted them, for children and their families.
The idea to hold the event sprang from the mind of Diane Short, the museum's new outreach and volunteer coordinator.
"I said, 'We need some activities. We need some events.' So we started to bring people into the museum, and this seemed like a good way to give us some practice at running some activities," Short said.
Museum visitors on Tuesday were able to participate in a variety of activities, including watching the museum's team of volunteer balloon crew members inflate and fly a miniaturized radio-controlled balloon in the back of the museum. The idea is to give younger children an opportunity to learn about how a hot air balloon flies and how to be safe around one.
Helping lead this crew of volunteers were Dave and Emily Greenwood, who have been involved with hot air balloons since 2009. The pint-sized, radio-controlled hot air balloon did go up for a brief flight before gusty winds forced an early landing.
"It's good to get the kids involved in safety and things like that," Dave said. "I think for them to be able to see (a hot air balloon) up close and experience it, that is important. And they really seem to enjoy it."
Inside the museum, several handmade projects were available, including making your own paper helicopter, inflating a trash bag with a hair dryer and launching a balloon rocket along a string.
On the museum's second floor, a trio of family members were hard at work completing their latest model, a radio-controlled balloon. Three generations of the Welz family — Sharon, her daughter-in-law Caryn and Caryn's daughter Cadence — stitched pieces of a balloon envelope together and gave talks to those who inquired about their project.
The family was involved with balloons prior to starting Welz Balloons, with Sharon's son and Caryn's husband Zerek piloting the mustache balloon, a full-sized balloon often seen flying in the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
The Welz family started making balloons as a way to pass the time during the lockdown period of the pandemic, first making a replica of Zerek's mustache balloon.
"We built that balloon at home and started playing around with it in the community, and people liked the idea of seeing a balloon in the community and said, 'Can you build me one?'" she said.
The business has taken off. Many curious museum goers approached the trio to ask about the balloons, which brought a smile to each of the Welz's faces.
All in all, smiles were everywhere in the museum. Its Educator Curator Anita Fernandez hopes that means these young minds have been inspired to explore hot air ballooning.
"We want them to get excited about ballooning," she said, "and we want them to come and feel like this is their museum."
