Guest Writer Lynn: Reaching out with Balloons

My sister Lynn and her husband have been living in a very small town on the east side of Lake Michigan for many years. One of the great things they’ve done for many years is to hold an annual event at their home, which is always popular and well attended:

We had our Chili-Cook-Off on the 18th and it was great fun. We had 14 different chili entries, and Larry Doran won...third time, and he will be impossible to live with! We always do a balloon launch; we add a colorful note with "if found please call" and a five dollar bill in a zippy bag attached to helium balloons that are then released. Dwight feels that people won't pick up trash, but they would pick up $5.00! Anyway, we have had calls from the Detroit area, Illinois, Wisconsin, and this year one of our balloons made it all the way to Frankfort, KY. MapQuest estimates this to be around 500 miles. Wow, cheaper than airfare! I'm always afraid the balloons will land in the big lake and cause havoc, but the launch is such great fun, I take the risks.

Now we just need to find someone to create a more bio-degradable balloon and note paper, so Lynn’s group won’t feel guilty about trash! Lynn loves getting the calls from far and wide, and their little town gets a little notoriety, too boot.