The Daily Corinthian, Corinth, MS, Tues, July 29, 1997:
p. 1, c. 6 -
BALLOON
RACE LOSES
$19,000
BY VICTORIA BLAKE
Staff Writer
The Eleventh Annual Roscoe Turner Hot Air Balloon Race
was a financial failure for The Alliance.
According to Charles Gulotta, president and chief
operating officer of The Alliance, over $19,000 was lost on the
May 2-4 event held at the Corinth/Alcorn County Airport.
"It has always been our expectation that the balloon
festival be a wholesome family event in Alcorn County. We are
very disappointed that it has not been a financial success and
the community will look very hard at the future status of the
event," noted Gulotta.
Money was lost due to poor attendance, continued Gulotta.
"We had concerts planned in conjunction with the balloon
races and when our citizens learned that some of the balloon race
launches had been canceled due to windy weather conditions, it
resulted in poor attendance for the concerts," noted Gulotta, who
added that some of the bands scheduled to perform were expensive.
Entertainment scheduled for the event included the
well-known country music singer John Conlee along with local
groups "Hurricane Kevin and the Breeze," "Jimmy Ray Hardin and
the Bad News Band," "Smokehouse Band," and a Motown Group from
Alabama called "Figure Eight."
The Alliance did have some insurance but not enough to
cover the majority of the loss, added Gulotta.
This year was the first time the race was organized by
The Alliance.
Gulotta said the future of the balloon race is still
undecided.
"We just need to assess where the balloon race fits into
our overall program," he said.
The Alliance will be having a program of work planning
session for fiscal year '98 and members on the Community
Development Council will be talking about priorities for the
upcoming year, said the Alliance president.
"I am sure there will be a lot of discussion on the status
of the balloon festival," he added.
For 10 years the event - founded by Corinth resident and
balloonist Eddie LeFavour, was held in August.
However, in order to make the event more "pleasurable"
for participants and spectators, organizers opted to hold the
three-day event in May, the same weekend as the Corinth Coca-Cola
Classic 10K Run.
Hot August weather was cited as the reason for moving the
event to the spring as the balloon race was not held last year.
Abstracts (c) Copyright 1998 Stephanie L. Sandy
Data transcription by: Milton Sandy, Jr. Corinth, MS - April 21, 1998
RT230