www.TonyTheTigerBalloon.com

Howdy Boys and Girls, this is a story about what Miss Laurie, Mr. “Lunchbox” Bob and I, did on October 6, 2003.

The “Gr-r-reat TONY Balloon Team” had never visited Travelers Rest, South Carolina before so we were excited to see this beautiful area. Our pal Joe Keller goes to school there, and, (since he is a famous TONY Balloon Co-Pilot) we were thrilled to share part of a morning with him, all his friends and Principal Glen Wright, who coordinated our visit.

We arrived to see all the students outside, with their parents and family, walking laps around their school yard, a program called “Community Walk” during Fire Prevention Week that promoted good health and fitness.

We had lots of help putting the balloon up, members of the Fire Department even helped.

This was a fun school with kids eager to learn new things in a beautiful setting, I wish that you could see this area too.

Rain looked like it might prevent us from flying the balloon this morning, but threatening skies turned in to cloudy skies and we were able to quickly get the balloon inflated for all the kids to see and enjoy.

Once we got the balloon inflated, Co-Pilot Joe climbed on-board with me to help with the flying duties. We needed to keep the air inside the balloon at around 175 degrees to hold it up, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t have done it without Joe’s help.

Joe and I flew the “Gr-r-reat TONY” off the ground to show kids that one degree of temperature inside the balloon means the difference between flying level, going up or going down.

Mr. Wright climbed into the basket with us for a picture. He sure had on a cool tie that day! All the kids got to gather around the balloon for a look inside the envelope, (that’s the “balloon” part). The fireman helped hold the balloon down for us. That was pretty nice of them, have you noticed that Fireman always want to help?

After we “deflated” (took the balloon down), 5^th Grade Students helped us pack the balloon away. It is really hard work but these kids were great helpers and worked very well as a team. Teamwork is very important in what we do.

We took a few minutes with each class and talked about the parts of a balloon, why balloons fly and how they float on the wind. We also spent time chatting about the importance of starting each day out with a good breakfast so that you arrive at school ready to learn.

Our boss, “TONY The Tiger” sent a special gift for each student to remind them to eat breakfast before school. Volunteers, parents and school staff helped us make sure that everyone got a “TONY” plush doll.

For us this was a fun day. Its always special when we visit schools, but its even better when we go to a school that has so many people working to help with the educational process. Family, friends and school, what a great community Travelers Rest is.

Gateway Elementary School