The President’s Blog

Last weekend’s balloon festival was a tremendous success for Pellissippi State. I don’t think that I could have asked for a better event for our college and community than the one that Pat Myers and her team produced last week. The weather cooperated just enough for the pilots to stage the “glow” around the pond on both nights which means that people went away happy each night.

This event is successful because of the tremendous support we get from volunteers–both community volunteers and college volunteers. Without them, this festival would not be possible. We tried to make it easier on volunteers this year by doing away with the children’s area “inflatables” and I believe that this was a good decision. It took an incredible number of volunteers to staff that area, and it was a very stressful job. This year, we used fewer volunteers, and they had easier jobs for the most part. I think everyone left tired but happy with their contributions to the success of the event.

The event has been good for my family as well. This year I had family drive over from Charleston SC and from St. Simons Island GA to enjoy the festival. We all had a grand time reacquainting ourselves and talking about the relatives who were not here. I hope everyone had a great time. We can continue as long as our pilots and our volunteers stay with us.