National Balloon Museum facts for kids
The National Balloon Museum is a special place in Indianola, Iowa. It's a non-profit museum all about hot air balloons and gas balloons. The museum first opened in 1975 in temporary spots. Then, in 1988, it found its permanent home. The building itself is shaped like the basket (or gondola) of a hot air balloon! There are only two balloon museums in the United States. The other one is the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum.
History of the Museum
The first big hot air balloon competition happened in Indianola in 1970. It was called the National Hot Air Balloon Championship. This event was so popular that it started happening every year. Because of this, special exhibits were created each year for the competition.
However, these exhibits could only be shown for a short time. People realized there was a need for a place to keep them all year long. This led to the idea of a permanent museum. The exhibits come from the Balloon Federation of America. They show over 200 years of ballooning history.
Inside the museum, you can see amazing things. One special item is the first hot air balloon that ever flew across the English Channel. The museum also has the U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame. There's even a fun area just for kids. In the children's area, you can take cool photos and read books about balloons. There is also a library for research.
All the people who work at the museum are volunteers. This means they give their time for free to help out. About 24,000 people visit the museum every year. These visitors come from many different countries around the world. Since 1989, the museum has hosted a big festival. It's called the National Balloon Classic. This festival lasts for nine days every year in late July. In 2015, the museum received a very large gift. This donation helped the museum keep running and sharing its amazing history.
U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame
The U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame is located inside the National Balloon Museum. It honors people who have done great things for the sport of ballooning. It also recognizes those who have helped develop ballooning technology.
Here are some of the people who have been added to the Hall of Fame:
- 2004: Paul E. (Ed) Yost
- 2005: Don N. Kersten, Sidney D. Cutter
- 2006: Bruce Comstock, Peter Pellegrino
- 2007: Deke Sonnichsen, Malcolm Stevenson Forbes
- 2008: Tracy Barnes, Eddie Allen
- 2009: Jim Winker, Lucy Luck Stefan, Karl H. Stefan
- 2010: Anthony M. Fairbanks, Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., Thomas A.F. Sheppard
- 2011: Ben L. Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, Dewey Reinhard
- 2012: Carol Rymer Davis, Dr. William Grabb, Matt Wiederkehr
- 2013: Dennis E. Floden, William Murtorff, Dr. Clayton Lay Thomas
- 2014: Nikki Caplan, Chauncey Dunn, Don Piccard
- 2015: Robert Dodds Meddock, Jr., Constance C. Wolf
- 2016: Troy Bradley, Bill Bussey, Bob Sparks
- 2017: David Levin, Steve Fossett, Thaddeus Lowe
- 2018: Debbra Spaeth, Alan Blount, Ward Van Orman
- 2019: Eleanor Vadala, Jim Birk—McAllen, Nick Saum
- 2020: Coy Foster, Mark Sullivan
