On Friday, Sept. 13, 2013, Pilot Lynn Huppert, Michele Huppert and Tony Huppert, owner of Team Oil Inc. of Spring Valley, Wis., collected on a promise made nine years earlier.
In 2004 a Hot Air Balloon Fund Festival was held at the Spring Valley, Wisconsin High School to raise money to offset fees for students to join extracurricular activities. Some $7,000 dollars was raised with the help of Pilot Lynn Huppert and other balloon pilots donating rides at an auction.
As organizers of the 2004 Festival, the three agreed someday they would take a balloon ride to celebrate the success of the fundraiser in 2004.
The trio kept their promise on Sept. 13, 2013. The flight lifted off from the grounds of Pierce County’s own Vino in the Valley. As hundreds of spectators looked on, two scientific hypothesis were proven. One, patience is a key to success. Two, it takes more than three Hupperts to generate enough hot air to float a balloon. Pilot Lynn still had to ignite the two LP burners to assist in heating up the 90,000 cubic feet of air in the Red, White and Blue Star Ship.
