COMMUNAUTÉ • COMMUN I TY
Wild Bill Whelan – flying high!
DIANE HUNTER diane.hunter@eap.on.ca
a pretty good rep. It’s a passion. I live, sleep, and breathe balloons.” Whelan is scheduled to go to festivals in Quebec City, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Gatineau, P.E.I., and Sussex, NewBrunswick this season, and has been invited to attend a festival in Taiwan in 2016. He has been to several festivals overseas including Australia in 2004. “We were flying upside down in Australia,” Whelan joked. Whelan and his team are working on a new design that will launch in 2016. In the meantime, Whelan continues to enjoy his days working, playing, and smiling. “Anyone who is interested can help out,” he said. “We are always looking for volunteers. And we appreciate all the landowners that let us chase our balloons.” Amid everything else he does, Whelan is also a flight instructor, teaching others how to fly balloons.
Bill Whelan says he lives, sleeps and breathes hot air balloons. What started out as an attempt to get over a fear of heights turned into a lifetime love for balloons and a career that most only dream of. Born and raised in Ottawa, Whelan now lives and works in a very small town called Sandown, Ontario, in between Vankleek Hill and Lefaivre. “I think I am the only resident here,” quippedWhelan. “So I have declared myself the mayor!” It is clear that Whelan has a passion for what he does. When asked if retirement is anywhere in the future, he smiled and said absolutely not. “I will never retire. This is my job for life,” he laughed. “I get up every morning looking forward to what I do. I don’t know the difference between a Friday and a Monday. I always make new friends ‘cause I’m always dropping in on people.” Whelan received an engineering license in aircraft maintenance from Transport Canada. He owns and operates Lighten Up Balloons where he creates and repairs hot air balloons with his partner Sandra Rolfe. Rolfe has won 57 Canadian and three world awards in ballooning including her most recent world record in duration with a time of seven hours and 24 minutes. Whelan first got hooked on balloons in 1982, and built his first balloon in 1984. He has since built more than 30 balloons, and has helped to design and repair dozens more. “It’s one thing to build a balloon, but it’s quite another thing to design it,” stated Whelan. “Most people don’t understand how big everything is.” Whelan has built several specialty balloons including one of his favourites, the beehive, a large rounded balloon with several bees sticking out of it. “It took 1,600 hours of manpower to build that balloon,” saidWhelan. “That doesn’t count the design time. It also took 80 kilometers of thread.” Festivals all over the world Lighten Up Balloons has been invited to festivals all over the world. “I have been doing this a long time,” saidWhelan. “I have
Bill Whelan has no intention of retiring any time soon, or ever. Here he stands in front of some photos of his balloon creations.
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