What's Up Wednesday November 22, 2023 #95

This week on What's Up Wednesday, the pins have shipped, remembering a day in ballooning history, a look ahead to Black Friday and a free gift for you!

Thanks to a herculean effort by our Navigators Anita, Bobbie and Barbara, with support from our store folks Sharon and Sheri, all the Solar Eclipse and Marvin the Martian pin orders have been processed, packed and shipped or marked ready for pick up. If you placed a pre order for either or both of these pins, you should have received an email that is has shipped or is ready for pickup. If you didn't see it, check your junk/spam folders before you contact us about your order. The good news is we beat our expected ship date by more than 2 weeks. We hope you enjoy the pins. And sorry, there are no "extra" pins available.

240 years ago yesterday the first manned flight of a hot air balloon took place in Annonay, France. Unmanned flights and that famous flight with the rooster, duck and sheep led up to the launch of Pilatre Rozier and the Marquis François d'Arlandes in that paper balloon built by the Montgolfier Brothers. In 25 minutes the two men traveled just over five miles. Enough fuel remained on board at the end of the flight to have allowed the balloon to fly four to five times as far, but burning embers from the fire threatened to engulf the balloon and the men decided to land as soon as they were over open countryside.

It wasn't until October 22, 1960, when Ed Yost made the first manned flight in a modern hot air balloon that the sport became sustainable. Yost and his team developed the propane burner and the deflation port at the top of the balloon to more easily control the altitude of the aircraft.  And now Balloon Fiesta features more than 550 hot air balloons over the skies of Albuquerque each October.

This Thanksgiving holiday weekend will find many balloonists looking to make a flight in addition to shopping on Black Friday. Of course we've all seen the "Black Friday Starts Now" advertisements everywhere. Here at Balloon Fiesta Stuff, our big sale is actually on December 9th and 10th. More on that sale next week. But mark your calendar for Friday, December 8, 8 pm MST to be first in line! But we couldn't let Black Friday go by without offering you something. So starting today at 6 am, and continuing until 6 am next Wednesday (11/29) every order of more than $10 will receive a free 2023 keychain. Once you have items totaling more than $10 in your cart, your free gift indicator will pop up. It's just a little thank you for shopping with us. 

While our physical gift shop will be closed both Thanksgiving Day and the Black Friday, our online store will be open, although we won't be processing any orders until we return to the office on Monday, November 27. Use the link at the top of BalloonFiestaStuff.com to see the calendar of hours for the rest of the year!

Finally, we are thankful for your business and support of both Balloon Fiesta and Balloon Fiesta Stuff. Please enjoy the holiday, be safe and we'll see you next week right here on What's Up Wednesday.