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Seniors see the sights, from 1,000 feet up
By MICHAEL SANDLER, Times Staff Writer LAND O'LAKES -- As a child, Edrie Kennedy can remember watching men fill giant balloons that carried people away in the sky. Then, at a county fair in Illinois in 1914, she swore one day she would ride one, too. It took 88 years, but Kennedy made good on her promise Friday when she and four other ladies drifted through a sunlit morning over Pasco County. They saw deer scamper, gators swim and construction workers ogle. "Hey granny!" cried one worker laying block on a foundation several hundred feet below. Kennedy flashed thumbs-up with a warm smile spreading over a face largely hidden behind oversized sunglasses. "I wanted to ride in a balloon since I was 5 years old," said Kennedy, 93. "This was the first chance I got." The five ladies -- the youngest of them 85 -- won hot-air balloon rides during a drawing in May at the Palms of Largo, a senior living facility where they live. Taylor Little, an executive director at the community, came up with the contest after one resident asked her to plan a little adventure for the residents. Her idea seemed to please Betty Lewis, one of the winners of the drawing. She could hardly wait to get on board as the two pilots pumped up the balloons at dawn. "I did not realize it was so big," said Lewis, 85. She said she was "not a bit nervous. "What's there to be nervous about?" she asked. "I like doing everything. I'm a daredevil." Equipped with 40 gallons of propane, pilot David Justice filled the appropriately named Big Red Balloon with more than 200 degrees of hot air needed to lift Lewis, Ruth Danielson and Betty Haslett above the earth. Kennedy and Helen Johnson followed them with pilot Dean Mabe in Celebration Aviation's red, white and blue balloon. The balloons lifted off shortly after 7 a.m. The winds pushed the two balloons west and the ladies climbed to nearly 1,000 feet. Kennedy could hardly stop waving and smiling down at the suburban community coming to life. "It's just perfect and relaxing to have it so quiet with all that beautiful scenery," said Kennedy, who has seen a fair share of excitement in her time. She has met the last five Republican presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush. That happens when you first become active with the Republican party in 1924 and spend nearly 30 years working on presidential campaigns in Pinellas County. But none of that compared to Friday's early-morning trip. "My daughter-in-law will envy me," said Kennedy, focused on her balloon ride. "We were going to do this together, (but) she lives in California. First thing I have to do is call her." They rode for 45 minutes before landing in a small field between apartment complexes in Land O'Lakes. By 8 a.m., they were toasting champagne and regaling each other with stories of their journey. "The best part was seeing how busy all the people are (below)," said Johnson, 88, a retired school teacher. "I have to call my sisters up Chicago way. They did not think I'd go." -- Michael Sandler can be reached at sandler@sptimes.com.
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