{"id":3270,"date":"2021-05-31T13:04:19","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T13:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greatforestparkballoonrace.com\/?page_id=3270"},"modified":"2023-09-14T02:18:57","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T02:18:57","slug":"event-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/greatforestparkballoonrace.com\/event-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Event History"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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EVENT HISTORY<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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EVENT SCHEDULE<\/a><\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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GETTING AROUND<\/a><\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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MEDIA & FAQ<\/a><\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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OUR SPONSORS<\/a><\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Celebrating Family Traditions and Soft Landings Since 1973<\/h2>

1973<\/strong> \u2013 The first modern day balloon race held in St. Louis \u2013 ultimately becoming what we know as The Great Forest Park Balloon Race \u2013 was founded by renowned balloonists Nikki Caplan and John O\u2019Toole. There were seven balloons and a dozen or so spectators.<\/p>

1976<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The small event was transformed into the beginning of a St. Louis tradition by Don Sarno and Henry Fett, whose passion and hard work set the stage for the Race to come.<\/p>

1977<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Sarno and Fett partnered with the whimsical Mississippi River Balloon Transit Company \u2013 four enthusiastic young balloon pilots and partners: John Marlow, Dan Schettler, John Schaumburg and Ted Staley \u2013 who took over the Race from Don and Henry \u2013 and have continued on to grow this beloved tradition and keep it a free event for the St. Louis community.<\/p>

Not only do the \u201cFab Four\u201d (as Marlow, Schettler, Schaumburg and Staley were later dubbed) continue to coordinate, organize and run this colossal event, but three of the four boast at least one Great Forest Park Balloon Race victory. \u201cJohn Schaumburg missed winning by just two feet in 1983,\u201d reminisces Schettler. \u201cAnd we never let him forget it,\u201d Staley adds.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0<\/strong>1978 to 2016\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0<\/p>

The Fab Four would go on to grow The Great Forest Park Balloon Race to incredibly new heights \u2013 introducing the tremendously popular Balloon Glow (aka: The Gaslight Glow) in 1991, being honored to have the Race inducted into the Library of Congress in 2000 and hailing as the most well-attended single-day balloon race in the country. Annually, nearly 100,000 spectators enjoy the Race and Glow with thousands more \u201coooohing\u201d and \u201cahhhing\u201d at the beautiful balloons taking flight across the Great St. Louis area.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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May 2000 – Induction into the Library of Congress<\/strong><\/p>

The Great Forest Park Balloon Race was inducted into the permanent collection of the Library of Congress on May 23, 2000. This induction was part of the celebration of the bicentennial of our nation\u2019s library.<\/p>

The Great Forest Park Balloon Race was honored as a Local Legacy \u2014 a local event that has grown to be of great significance in the community. The honor came by selection of Congressman Richard Gephardt who chose The Great Forest Park Balloon Race to represent St. Louis and the state of Missouri.<\/p>

Now the race will be immortalized, complete with photos, programs, posters, videos, pins, and pilot gifts, that will be in the library and digitalized for posterity.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The history of the Race is rich with good friends and great family traditions.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>

Now in its 50th year, The Great Forest Park Balloon Race is one of the oldest races in the United States!<\/p>

In fact, The Great Forest Park Balloon Race is internationally known as one of the most prestigious balloon races \u2013 made especially unique by having a launch site a major metropolitan area. The expert pilots attend by invitation only.<\/p>

The Fab Four are now accompanied by a new generation of balloonists, partners and successful businessmen and women.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>

The Partners are extremely proud to join with the nation\u2019s expert hot-air balloon pilots and some of the nation\u2019s best corporate sponsors to continue hosting this free event for St. Louis \u2013 sharing their love of family, friends and flight with the community.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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2017 & 2018 –\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

The Glow and Race were held on Art Hill, in Forest Park while Central Fields was being renovated.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0<\/p>

2019\u00a0
<\/b>GFPBR returns “HOME” to the newly renovated Emerson Central Fields in Forest Park<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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2020
<\/b>The Great Forest Park Balloon Race “Lifts Up” St. Louis<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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2022<\/b>
Celebrated the 50th annual RACE and welcomed record crowds all weekend to Emerson Central Fields. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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EVENT HISTORY Celebrating Family Traditions and Soft Landings Since 1973 1973 \u2013 The first modern day balloon race held in St. Louis \u2013 ultimately becoming what we know as The Great Forest Park Balloon Race \u2013 was founded by renowned balloonists Nikki Caplan and John O\u2019Toole. There were seven balloons and a dozen or so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatforestparkballoonrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3270"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatforestparkballoonrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatforestparkballoonrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatforestparkballoonrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatforestparkballoonrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3270"}],"version-history":[{"count":66,"href":"https:\/\/greatforestparkballoonrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10429,"href":"https:\/\/greatforestparkballoonrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3270\/revisions\/10429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatforestparkballoonrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}