Touchstone Energy Balloon celebrates 25 years in the sky
photos by Jim McCarty
At the Missouri State Fair, Scott Wooge has the best seat in the house. This year’s fair will mark the fifth time he’s glided over the grandstand, carnival midway and livestock barns in the Touchstone Energy Balloon.
“Flying over the Missouri State Fair is fun because there’s a lot of people and a lot of activity going on,” he says. “But it’s challenging. Hot air ballooning is one of the few sports where you’re immediately looking for a place to land — you plan your flight by where you can land.”
A 33-year veteran of the sport, Scott has landed a lot of balloons. While he grew up as an Iowa farm boy, he’s spent his career as a hot air balloon pilot in Missouri, living near St. Louis. For the past decade he’s been one of a handful of pilots to fly a balloon for Touchstone Energy, an alliance of more than 700 local, member-owned electric cooperatives in 46 states.
Scott Wooge is one of seven pilots who flies the Touchstone Energy Balloons. He has flown balloons in 33 states, including his home state of Missouri. Scott and his wife, Cynthia, live near St. Louis.
This year marks a big milestone for the Touchstone Energy Balloon — it has soared over electric cooperative annual meetings and community events for 25 years. Only RE/MAX has sponsored a balloon longer. Representatives of a handful of electric cooperatives asked pilot Cheri White to carry the Touchstone Energy banner as she competed in the National Hot Air Balloon Championship in 1999.
“I won the women’s division, and I finished 10th overall in the nationals,” she recalls. “We received a lot of media attention on television and in the papers. The co-ops supporting us saw incredible potential to engage people with the balloon.”
As interest grew, Cheri became general manager and chief pilot of the Cooperative Balloon Associates, which manages the balloon program. “Over the years we grew to two balloons, then three balloons, and right now we have five balloons with five vans situated all around the country,” she says.
During busy seasons, it’s not uncommon for all five balloons to be airborne at different events in one day. Pilots and balloons are based in New Mexico, Texas, South Dakota, Ohio and Missouri. The balloons have graced the skies in nearly every state, minus Hawaii and Alaska.
“Touchstone Energy figured out ballooning is a natural match to advertise and support the rural co-ops,” Scott says. “It’s a win-win for everybody. That’s why the program has been going on for 25 years.”
Depending on the event, the balloon teams do a traditional flight in the air, or they do tethered rides, which means a balloon is tied to the ground with three strong ropes and floats up and down. They also have a cold air balloon, which is a tied-down inflatable balloon.
“We go into small communities that haven’t seen a balloon before,” Cheri says. “The balloons leave really great memories for all those people. That’s the rewarding part of the program, when we take a balloon to tiny co-ops in towns of 500 population or less.”
No matter the situation, Cheri and Scott agree hot air balloons bring magic wherever they fly. Scott has landed in fields as farmers combined their corn, chauffeured police officers who giggled through the entire flight and became a high-class wedding crasher as he landed in a park during a ceremony. Earlier this year he gave tethered rides during the solar eclipse.
For many passengers, riding in a hot air balloon is on their bucket list. Scott’s wife, Cynthia, is a retired commercial hot air balloon pilot. They have helped many people check the experience off their list. It’s also inspired Scott, who hopes to fly in a new state each year. He’s flown in 33 states, which matches his 33 years as a pilot.
“I love flying the Touchstone Energy Balloon because it gets me back to the rural areas to meet folks who are salt of the earth,” he says. “Hot air balloons bring smiles to people’s faces. It is a beautiful sport. I’ve never seen anyone not be excited by seeing a hot air balloon.”
Be on the lookout for the Touchstone Energy Balloon during the Missouri State Fair, Aug. 8-18. Scott will fly it in the evening, weather permitting.