When the National Balloon Classic first took place in Indianola, Greg Marchant, then a senior at Simpson College, remembers being mesmerized by the sight of more than 30 balloons ascending at once. He slowly became involved with the annual event, volunteering as a crew member, helping with landowner relations and eventually joining the board. Now as executive director, Marchant is in charge of making sure the 120-balloon, nine-day event runs smoothly. But he compares himself to a referee: Although he will manage his second Balloon Classic this summer, he prefers that the 80,000 spectators remember the spectacle of the event rather than his accomplishment.

What did you do before you became director?

The majority of my life I worked in agriculture, about 32 years. Ag-chemical sales or management positions.

Did you ever imagine yourself in this position?

Not at all. I was in semi-retirement before I took this position. I was figuring I would go back to the business world, but didn’t know what I was going to be doing. The timing on my part and need of the classic just fell together.

Why do you think the National Balloon Classic such an important event?

The people of the community just embrace it. The pilots have developed standing relationships with different families. People bond. It’s a great experience for everyone, and it’s out of the ordinary. In the United States, we’re the second-oldest, second-largest nine-day hot air balloon event.

Will there be anything new or different at this year’s event?

We promote kids enjoying the event. To look at children’s faces when the balloons are going over is neat, but we have a lot of other things to keep them occupied. Oscar Mayer has selected us for bringing their “Sing the Jingle, Be a Star Tour.” We also have the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Parachute Team jumping and for the adults, we have coordinated with Summerset Winery to have a wine night.

What would you say you’re most excited about?

It’s hard not to be excited about all of it. Balloons never get old to me. I just love watching them.

Do you fly in hot air balloons often?

I have flown, but I’m not a pilot. I haven’t flown for several years. Flying is a great experience. It’s so peaceful. When that burner’s off, that feeling of just floating with the wind, it’s unbelievable.

What’s the biggest challenge of putting this on?

Fund raising. We have a very good core group of sponsors that have been with us a number of years. We continue to try to get additional dollars to allow us to do some more things, like field improvement, which maybe aren’t noticed as much by others but are necessary. We would like to get more sponsors in the metro area. Being this close to Des Moines and having a majority of our local citizens working in Des Moines, it would be nice if we were considered more a part of the metro area.

Has your family been involved with the Balloon Classic?

My wife and I crewed. Our daughter who lives in Montana just had a girl; they’ll becoming back for the balloons this year and our son-in-law is going to crew for one of our pilot friends. My son and his wife will be out on the field a lot as well.

What’s your favorite pastime?

Family and golf.

What is one goal you’d still like to accomplish in your lifetime?

I don’t know that I have a sense of lack of accomplishment. This is a great job because you deal with such great people and so many different arenas. I think the big thing is just continuing to make this event stay at the level that it’s at and not disappoint the community.

What is it going to feel like after the event is over?

It’s a pretty hectic pace for the office staff probably five weeks leading up to the event, and the event itself is a lot of long hours. But if everything goes well, I think everybody will feel like we’ve done it again. The most important thing is that the classic is successful, and that doesn’t mean just dollars. That means people who came to watch really enjoyed what they saw, the pilots enjoyed their time here, volunteers had a great time, landowners didn’t have any issues, and our sponsors felt like this is something they will want to continue to sponsor.

– Sarah Bzdega