Tuesday, August 01, 2000
Reality grounds balloon race
Planners in Lebanon cancel event after looking at numbers
By Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — Balloons won't speed across the sky here after all — at least, not this year.
Rainbow Over Lebanon, a balloon race on Aug. 19, has been canceled. Fund raising couldn't keep up with the expected $30,000-$40,000 in costs, said Gerald Miller, chairman of the bicentennial committee.
“We may have started too late,” he said.
The bicentennial committee had hoped to have bal loon races this year and next as a lead-up to the Warren County seat's bicentennial celebration in 2002.
“What we really should be doing is having fund-raisers,” said committee member Marilyn Haley. “That's what we thought the balloon festival would be, in the beginning.”
The city has contributed $28,000 toward bicentennial efforts, but the committee decided not to spend that on the balloon race.
“That money we really wanted to use for the bicen tennial,” Mr. Miller said. “We need that for historical markers, books, maybe a park. I just was not going to rob Peter to pay Paul.”
The committee is not out any money on the race because it made the decision by a July 19 deadline, he said. The roughly $15,000 that was collected from area businesses for the balloon race will be returned, he said.
The committee still plans to have a balloon race next year, on Aug. 18, and also during bicentennial celebrations Aug. 16, 2002.
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