Page 6 - 2022 Digital Guide

Thurston Classic

Hot Air Balloon Event

Ballooning has a very long history in Meadville. The Thurstons were a
Meadville family who were involved with ballooning in the 19th and early
20th centuries. Samuel Sylvester Thurston was born in 1834, and operated a
hotel in Meadville. In 1860, Samuel learned how to fly from noted balloonist,
Professor Steiner, and purchased a balloon. Townspeople were skeptical, but
over the next 25 years, Samuel made 215 ascensions in his balloon. He
enjoyed sharing his unusual sport with others, flying without charge at fairs,
exhibitions, and 4th of July celebrations.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Alic Thurston began ballooning in
1889. His first public ascension in 1891 abruptly ended when his balloon
caught on the wiring of the newly-installed street lights of Meadville and
never took off.

Alic later built a number of balloons, including one that he christened the
“Meadville”. The Meadville was constructed of 576 yards of muslin, and
stood 64 feet high. It had a volume of 35,000 feet, which is only half the size
of a model ern sport hot-air balloon, but comparable to the gas balloons still
flown in competition today.

Alic had a variety of adventures during his career as a balloonist. His
grappling hook, a crude landing device employed by early balloonists, ripped
a chicken coop from its foundation, as his father Samuel had earlier torn the
roof off of a farmer’s kitchen. On one occasion, he flew his balloon 180 miles
to a landing in the forest near Emporium, Pennsylvania and had to return
home by train. On another flight, he was becalmed at night over a lake. On at
least one occasion, he launched his balloon from the roof of the Market
House in downtown Meadville.

Both Samuel and Alic Thurston used the title of “Professor”, a title conferred
by early aeronauts on themselves to convince the public that ballooning was a
scientific and learner pursuit. Their ascensions attracted thousands of
spectators and were followed closely in the newspapers of the time, the
notion of people flying through the air was still very newsworthy in those
days.

In 1988 a group of volunteers decided to commemorate the daring feats of the
Thurston’s during the Meadville Bicentennial celebration.
Since then an annual 3-4 day event is held over Father’s Day Weekend that is
kicked off with the Thursday evening Joyce Stevens’ Memorial Night Glow
followed by 3 days of sanctioned balloon races. All weather permitting, of
course.