The 1980S n the annals of history, the 1980s may well be remembered as the great decade of technological transformation. Desktop computers (both Macs and PCs), video games (Pac-Man! Game Boys!), the first cell phones, the first CD players, new television networks including CNN, FOX, MTV, I and (most significantly for balloonists) The Weather Channel -- all laid down roots for the digital age. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court justice, broke barriers for women. The eruption of Mt. St. Helens, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion, and the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger reminded us of humans’ limitations, and the fall of the Berlin Wall of their limitless possibilities when freedom prevails. The 1980s were also the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta’s® most transformative decade. Crowd- pleasing new events – the Balloon Glow, Special Shape Rodeo, Dawn Patrol, and the first gas balloon races – expanded the Balloon Fiesta from a strictly sunrise spectacular into an all-day and into-the-evening event. Flying in the Balloon Fiesta became a bucket-list pilgrimage for balloonists worldwide. Except . . . many of them found that having had a taste of the magic in Albuquerque, they had to come back for seconds . . . and thirds . . . and fourths . . . and today, they’re still making the annual pilgrimage to ballooning’s town square. PHO T O: BILL W AL T ON FL YNT OFFICIAL PROGRAM 117