Download the Program Book (pdf) - Warren County Farmers Fair

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Fred Grotenhuis Bob Mueller Tom Baldwin Jim Duncan Kim Gott Frank Catchings
The organizers of the 13th year of the Hot Air
Balloon Festival, presented by JCP&L, are
proud to be a part of the Fair as it celebrates
76 years. We would like to thank AmeriGas
who keeps our balloons afloat by supplying us
propane for the week.
As organizers, it has been great to see the
Fair continue to grow these past 13 years
while still retaining its agricultural roots. The
fact that the event is affordable for the community
makes it more special. Thanks to the directors
who volunteer many hours throughout the
year and are committed to providing the best in
family entertainment. Enjoy!
FIND US ON
To Book A Full Length Balloon Ride
at the Fair Call 908-454-3431 or
email fly@njballoonrides.com
Meet the pilots...
1 Pilot and balloon festival coordinator
Fred Grotenhuis has over 46 years of flying
experience. His first experience with piloting
was in the military flying helicopters.
From there he went on to get his fixed wing
license and then his license for hot air balloons
in 1980. Fred has flown helicopters,
fixed wing, powered parachutes, hot air balloons
and paragliders. He has also graduated
from flying Air Hog 2 channel to Blade
6 channel RC helicopters.
Fred recently joined the Aero Club of
America, which flies a gas balloon that uses
hydrogen as the lifting agent.
When Fred is not flying the balloon in
Harmony he can be seen paragliding off the
scenic mountains of Costa Rica. Fred runs a
bed and breakfast in Costa Rica in the winter,
where he is known as Grampa Ninja.
Fred’s insistence on keeping safety first
and also keeping the festival fun for the
pilots make it one of the favorite festivals
for the pilots.
2 Bob Mueller is coming to the Warren
County Farmers’ Fair and Hot Air Balloon
Festival as the pilot of the RE/MAX balloon.
Bob has been flying balloons since 1983.
Before he matched up with Re/Max, Bob had
done some flying for Pepsi and a road trip with
Claritin Hot Air Balloon Programs. He
counts himself lucky to have used the sport to
feed his passions for travel, sightseeing and
meeting people. In addition to flying in many
of the states in the United States, Bob has
also flown in six different countries. Bob’s current
favorite place to fly is Letchworth Park in
upper NY, (over the largest of the 27 water
falls there). In addition to flying the Re/Max
Hot Air Balloon, Bob loves doing school programs
for K-5 and administering the local
clubs Balloon Competition.
Bob recommends getting involved with
ballooning on many levels, flying, crewing
and building. The local club in the area
GEBA Great Eastern Balloon Assoc., is an
excellent source of information. You can
Google them under GEBA balloons.
3 Tom Baldwin writes: When Rodger Kell, a
college friend, said he was taking hot air balloon
flying lessons I thought he was wacked
out. This was in the early 70's and I already
had my single engine airplane rating. I started
helping (crewing) and went on to get my balloon
rating. I was fortunate to fly for Malcom
Forbes, Bennihana and others gaining experience.
In 1987, I purchased a balloon and I currently
fly The Unity Bank Balloon for Unity
Bank Corp., Clinton, NJ.
4 Jim Duncan has been involved in ballooning
since 1978, and received his commercial hot
air balloon license in 1984. For many years,
he owned and operated a passenger service,
“Cloud 9 Balloon Flights,” and focused on his
passion for competition throughout the United
States. He won the Great Eastern Balloon
Assoc. Championship eight times and also
won several local “Hare and Hound” events.
Jim likes to spend time working with Bert
Padelt at Best Aviation Services, building
balloons for personal use and building gas
balloons for use in setting records. He has
had the opportunity to travel to Japan where
he enjoyed flying with the “Fly One Team”
based in Saga.
Since he retired from General Motors,
Jim now spends summers in New Jersey flying
“Air Head Invader” for Fred and Giulia
and spends his winters in Venice, Florida
cruising the Intracoastal Waterway in his
boat, “Dunk-In.”
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5. Kim Gott writes: We are glad to participate
again this year in the Warren County Balloon
Festival. This festival continues to be a great
place to fly from with all of our ballooning
friends. Most of us share the experience with
our family members. Either husbands and
wives, our children or just our best friends. It’s
amazing to see the changes through the years.
I started with my kids being four and six years
old. Now Tucker, the youngest is graduating
from high school. He continues to fly fixed
wing as he goes off to college. Lindy is living
her dream as she is now a jockey and a college
student. We thank our great crew of Sandy,
Jeff, Debbie and Bruce.
6. Frank Catchings and his wife Andrea
own Aero Caliente Balloon Adventures and
have been in operation since 1998. Their
balloon is an Aerostar RX-8 with a volume
of 90,000 cubic feet, which can carry the
pilot and up to three passengers.
Frank has been flying fixed wing aircraft
since 1978, and hot air balloons since 1997.
Outside of aviation, Frank is a retired
construction manager and Andrea is a
Registered Nurse at Hunterdon Medical
Center.
Based in Flemington, NJ, their beautiful
neon yellow, green and black balloon can be
seen drifting over scenic Hunterdon County
most weekends and is available for flightseeing
excursions for any occasion.
7. A native of New Jersey and resident of
Hunterdon County for the last 25 years,
James Buzby will be flying his Buzz Off balloon.
Shortly after moving to Union
Township from Somerville, Jim and his family
started chasing balloons casually in the
evenings as so many people in this area
often do. Jim began chasing for his friend,
Rich Wiedenhaefer, pilot of the Strawberry
Balloon. Rich agreed to give Jim some lessons
and the love of ballooning began.
Fourteen years and two balloons later, Jim
and his first-rate crew can be seen on beautiful
evening and early morning flights in
our area. “We love coming to the Warren
County Farmers Fair every year. The people
are great and the relaxed flying atmosphere
is very enjoyable.” Jim recently retired and
now has more time to devote to his favorite
hobbies of skiing and ballooning.