some cables 600 ft above ground level. They air out. It always impressed me because ballooning carried a tech aloft who left the balloon in a sort was never about him or for him, but rather a way he of boatswain’s chair and made repairs on some could make others happy. That’s one thing that I think kind of hush hush cable system. (Maybe Sid was really important to him, especially in his later needed to found another business? Sid’s Flying years when he could just sit on the fi eld and enjoy Cable Repairs?) Balloon Fiesta, watching how balloons made others • Paul and Sid launched from the St Louis arch and happy. That’s something that really rubbed off on enjoyed uneventful fl ights as part of the Kool Pro me when I got into ballooning, being me when I got into ballooning, being Tours in 1978-1980. Some of these launches took an ambassador for the sport, and place under the arch and, for eff ect, were fi lmed inviting the little ones to help with the inviting the little ones to help with the to look as though they fl ew through it. defl ation, because, to them, helping defl ation, because, to them, helping • After Paul won his second hot air balloon world with a balloon was something that championship, Sid and the Smithsonian arranged they would remember for years to (with the proper permits) for a tether fl ight at the come. D.C. mall near the Smithsonian to commemorate Paul’s success. Sid’s propensity for nurturing • Sid and Paul worked with Anheuser Bush on the sport in youths is evident several epic fl ights for the movie Day of the in these stories from former Balloons, produced in 1975-76 for the Busch Balloon Fiesta president Ty Young. Balloon Fiesta president Ty Young. Gardens theme parks. Sid fl ew Sky Chariot with He now has one of the most PHO T O: KIM VE SEL Y Darryl Gunter from the bottom of the Grand complete collections of Balloon Canyon, on the Havasupai reservation. They Fiesta memorabilia anywhere, landed on a ledge midway up the canyon wall and and Sid played a big role in getting it started: the balloon had to be helicoptered out. Another fl ight sequence for the movie took place in New fi rst met Sid when I was around 7 or 8 years York City. It was a free fl ight from the east side old. At the time, I had no idea who he was nor of Manhattan, and was a quick, uneventful up the important fi gure he was in the community. and down. That fl ight was supplemented by an I was just starting to trade balloon pins and of unauthorized tether at Lexington and Broadway. course I approached him to see if I could get They infl ated the balloon and “walked” it about Ione of his pins of his very well-known World a block to give the impression on camera of Balloon. He had just completed a morning of fl ying at a free fl ight. The authorities showed up, but the Balloon Fiesta and was surrounded by many of his they requested and were granted, forgiveness, family, friends and crew. When I fi nally got the nerve because in theory they didn’t actually fl y. to ask him if he would trade a pin with me, he stopped • Part of the Kool Pro tour included a tether in what he was doing and said, “follow me”. He took me Central Park, where they were interviewed by into his chase truck and pulled out his stockpile of "Good Morning America". pins that made my eyes pop wide open. He reached • Sid and Jewel tethered the Westinghouse balloon into a bag and laid out a number of diff erent pins, in front of the twin [World Trade Center] towers. most of which I had never seen before. He asked me • Sid free-fl ew the original World Balloon over what I was off ering and I showed him the only pin I had the Olympic Stadium in Lake Placid, NY to trade. He then took the time to explain what all his during the opening ceremonies at the 1980 diff erent pins were and the balloons they represented. Winter Olympics. It wasn’t Sid’s only Olympic After he was done, he told me to pick out my favorite. experience; he was a torchbearer for the 2002 Of course, I picked out the one I was after…his well- Salt Lake City Olympic Games and took the torch known World Balloon. After he asked me to make sure aloft in a tethered balloon at an event at Balloon that was the one I wanted, he proceeded to gather up Fiesta Park. all the diff erent ones in his hand and give them all to me, saying “you’re going to need some extras to get When Chris Cutter was invited to relate a favorite your collection started”. I couldn’t believe my luck moment with his grandfather Sid, he responded with and, as the years went by, I always made a point to the following: fi nd him and give him one of my new pins each year. When I was 9 or 10 years old, one of my “must here’s not just one moment, but anytime have” pins, was one that Sid Cutter was wearing. we landed and there were kids nearby, Technically not a balloon pin, it was a pin of his he (Sid) would always invite them to famous Ambulance chase vehicle. I asked him from roll out the air from the balloon. Many time to time if he would trade with me. Eventually, he times, he would join them in rolling down pulled me inside his chase commander truck and said Tthe length of the balloon to squeeze the he’d trade something with me. He showed me what OFFICIAL PROGRAM 45