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Hot Air Jubilee
Contributing positively to the Jackson, MI community since 1983.
Part of being such a big event means that people sometimes lose things. If you found something while at the park, or maybe saw something you think looked lost, please send us a private message
Every Hot Air Jubliee flight took off for the first time in more than a decade
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All 8 scheduled flights and night glows were able to launch at the event in 2024.
And finally we NEED to thank the US Women's National Balloon Championship staff and pilots for appreciating and loving our community and wanting to come back.![]()
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Special thanks to:![]()
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Paul Petrehn, Duncan Dunavent, JC Smith, Andrew Pestun, Erica Hahn, Al Nels, Ashley Nels, Patty Cramer, Jack, and everyone else I missed (please comment below if I missed you). ![]()
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I can't tell you how much I appreciate how open you are with helping our board grow, and sharing your experiences and wisdom with us. It was a pleasure having you here and hope to see you again next year!
aaannnndddd the board members who work all year and stress over every little thing to make the event better than the last each and every time. This event is THE event of Jackson. It's so special because of the love and hours you each put into it.![]()
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Angela Madden: Our Chairperson for 2024. Not only does Angela work year round to make sure we dot our 'i's and cross our 't's but she works with the national staff to ensure the two events can work together flawlessly. She was also a participating Women's National pilot throughout the week.![]()
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David Seekell: Our Vice Chair and head of the pilot committee. David works year round to better the event and seek out new ideas from the various balloon events he attends. He's also responsible for all the odd jobs that need fixing and spends much of the event driving from one problem to the next. During the weekend, he's also a pilot during the event representing his hometown.![]()
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Chad Seekell: A robot. No seriously, Chad was super involved in the car show before the event but during the event he was busy making sure out of state pilots could get their chase vehicles operational again when they broke down, chasing down pilots at targets to capture pictures and videos, appreciating our sponsors, and even joined a team to help one pilot carry out their equipment from a field in the middle of nowhere.![]()
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Jason Gootee: Runs the parking and all the problems that come with it. Together with his team they keep things organized, and as an event that pulls in thousands and thousands of people, that's a lot to manage. These volunteers stand out in the heat all day, dealing with all kinds of hardship and the event would be a complete mess without them.![]()
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Jeanne Lindahl: Our saleswoman extraordinaire! Jeanne is the smiling face you see at our souvenir wagon during the event. She works year round to get the designs ready and available for t-shirts, shot glasses, posters, pins, everything you see at the field and our online store. Her people skills and character are an amazing asset.![]()
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David Salsbury: Our Safety Officer! Safety is so important to us and Dave is the one to make sure all the pilots are following all the rules we put in place to ensure the best event possible.![]()
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Megan Smith: Our secretary, who has to try to make sense of all of the random and crazy thoughts the board has in each and every meeting. Her other job is asking as many questions as possible and making sure we think through all those wacky ideas. Just imagine where we'd be without you.![]()
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Steven Sitko: Our balloonmeister in charge of all HAJ pilot targets and tasks. His creativity keeps us guessing and keeps Jackson one of the most fun events to fly in Michigan. Steve also serves as part of the US Women's National staff, helping with their tasks and making sure both events can co-exist in the Jackson airspace. ![]()
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Ashley Fall: Took on all things Sponsors this year. From calling businesses, number crunching, and then hospitality and ride assignments, there are so many tasks that go into this role. We literally could not do this event without our sponsors and especially, we could not host the US Women's Nationals without more contributions from our community. This tough job isn't always fun but the community and this board appreciate everything it takes to make it happen and everything you do to keep our sponsors happy.![]()
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Jacque Austin: Our treasurer and vendor management. Money and Food, not important at all right? Jacque is at the field all day making sure the vendors are getting settled and have what they need to serve our community. Her and her team also set up the field and run around delivering water and ice and other necessity's all day. She also (in her spare time) organizes all the different volunteers for the whole event (phew!)![]()
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and then there's me 🙂![]()
Nicole Seekell: In previous years I just answered all of your social media questions. New to this year I'm responsible for the HAJ website, mobile app, and all social media which meant attending every pilot briefing and target location so that I could push out the flight decision notifications and capture the beautiful views for those who couldn't make it out.![]()
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It's been quite a year but the board is ready to start planning 2025. Stay tuned!
What a great year! I still have so many sponsors and volunteers to thank but I just have to take a few minutes to thank so very special people first.![]()
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So much hard work goes into making the Jubilee a success each year and without these individuals, the community would miss out on so much:![]()
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Andy Merritt: Our MC extraordinaire! Andy does an amazing job at keeping the crowd entertained and informed at the field. He familiarizes himself with the pilots and balloons and even crews for our locals to keep himself informed and provide accurate information. Thank you Andy for being the "Voice" for the board and the pilots.![]()
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Dave Bostedor: Our official event photographer! Dave is out there capturing all the images our staff can't get to. He's hard at work while the rest of us are napping making sure he captures the joy this event brings to the community.![]()
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Tucker Newsome: New to the event staff this year, Tucker took over the car show and what a show it was! Truly one of the best in Michigan. Thank you for all you do year round from the advertising, to the trophies, and all the organization. ![]()
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Tina Seekell: Our unofficial board member and workhorse. Tina helped with the pilot committee to make sure our pilot logistics were all worked out, ran around to pick up and drop off deliveries all over the city, drove around to the targets each flight and helped answer all the social media questions this year. Honestly the board would be lost without you.![]()
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Rick Whittaker & Darrin Fall: All things Propane (and propane accessories). You lift us up... literally. So much appreciation for the long nights and dedication to making sure our pilots could fly at every opportunity Mother Nature allowed for them.![]()
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John Rockey: Our landowner relations go-to. Not everyone wants to have a hot air balloon land in their yard. It's John's job to address complaints, concerns, and compromises with our community so that we stay only where we're welcome. It's a tough job but so critical to the safety of our pilots and the happiness of our community![]()
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All of our volunteers: Whether you worked parking, the beer tent, trash duty, balloon crew, hospitality, or any of the other odd jobs that are the backbone to making this event a success... THANK YOU. You are who this event are for, and you make it happen.![]()
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And of course our pilots and crew for being here and showing our sponsors some love and appreciation, as well as our landowners. The community loves having you back year after year and we hope to see you in 2025!
