Dan Schettler and three of his friends bought their first hot air balloon in the summer of 1974. It was a natural fit for the man who had a habit of experimenting with the adventurous and nonconventional, from motorcycles to canoeing.
“This idea of being able to fly in a hot air balloon was intriguing from the very beginning,” Schettler says. “It’s truly an experience like nothing else.”
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Schettler picked up his affinity for ballooning after the first balloon race in Forest Park, in December ’73. The park hosted no more than six or seven balloons and upwards of 50 spectators, he recalls. “My friends and I convinced the organizers to move the race to September, which is better weather, so more people would come,” Schettler recalls. “So we all started helping with the organization of that in ’74. My friend and I both flew in that ’74 flight. And that’s really the beginning of what is now the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. We’ve been involved ever since.”
That year, Schettler explains, the organizers were able to get a sponsor, the St. Louis Ambassadors, to pay each pilot $50 to participate. Schettler’s first Forest Park balloon was called Roaring Glory, and he describes that first year as something special. “We went on to become incorporated in ’76 or ’77, for liability reasons, and we got a little more sophisticated about things,” he says. “Our whole desire to have the balloon race was to have a free event for St. Louis. There are balloon races all over the country, but none of ’em are in a major metropolitan area, just a mile or two from the airport. It is really unique in multiple ways, and from the very beginning, people just loved coming out to it. It just has grown from there.”
In the mid-’90s, Schettler suggested adding the Glow component of the event, in which balloons are inflated at night for viewing on Fridays, after seeing an event in Minnesota do the same. “I kept telling my partners we should try this, and they finally agreed one year,” he says. “It’s just been amazing to me and my family and everyone, really, that we created such a successful thing. The Balloon Glow draws a much larger crowd than even the race… It’s a spectacular thing, to see all these balloons lighted at night, and all those families together.”
Schettler’s family, in particular, has developed a passion for hot air balloons and the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. “Everybody in the family has embraced it,” Schettler says. “It started with my oldest son, Brian—we have a picture of him the year that he was born at the balloon race, crawling on our balloon. My wife was very involved, and then my son John was born, and he did the same thing.”
It’s a legacy that Schettler is happy his sons are carrying on. “As the years have gone on, several of my partners are no longer living. I’m kind of the only one that’s still involved from that core group,” he says. “But my two sons and their best friends have sort of taken over doing exactly what we did 40, 50 years ago. They’ve been able to take it to a whole different level than the original founders did, and that’s what makes it special.”
Schettler’s son John can’t remember a time that hot air balloons weren’t a part of his life: “It’s been a part of my life since I was a kid. There was a time, when I had done it so much just with my dad, that it wasn’t wowing me or blowing me away at one point. But something changed when I started training to become a pilot myself. It really ignited my passion for it.”
Once John started flying independently—at roughly the same age his dad was in 1974—his love for it took off. “The first time I flew by myself, I remember it wasn’t scary, really, but I was a little nervous. I had always had my dad in the basket with me and knew that if I screwed something up, he would take over, and we’d be fine,” John recalls. “When I did my first solo, it was the first time I had to rely totally on my skills. But after the first 10 minutes of nervousness, it became one of the most special flights I’ve ever had. Just the pure silence—it’s almost a form of meditation in the sky. It was just very peaceful. It was fun being a passenger with my dad, but it was even more exciting to actually be piloting myself.”
Even better than that memory, however, was the one in which John and his father flew side by side for the first time in the Forest Park race. “My dad took off first, and I took off right afterward, and we both left the field at almost the same time,” John recalls. “Before that, I had flown with him pretty much every year in the same basket. That was a special year—the first I got to fly next to my dad.”
Both father and son identify the same core reason they love what they do: community. Dan cites the diverse population that consistently comes out to the event weekend, and both also credit the sponsors and volunteers. At the end of the day, though, it’s all about the families.
“What I love the most about ballooning is when you’re landing, and every kid in the neighborhood comes out, and they run toward you,” John says. “You know, 90 percent of the time, we’re flying in St. Louis…so we’re landing in neighborhoods and seeing all the smiles on their faces and then letting them come up in the balloon, get in the basket if they want to help, and take down the balloon. That is always a very special moment for me. Everybody, even the parents, gets to sort of be kids again and enjoy the moment.”
Another special aspect of ballooning for John is helping others share in that moment, like his dad did for him. While he does occasionally offer corporate rides, he takes joy in helping someone fulfill their bucket list, from an 80-year-old couple living in a retirement community to individuals suffering from terminal illness.
“One of our partners’ friend’s unfortunately had terminal cancer, and one of his dreams was always to go up in a hot air balloon. So we finally found a day, and he and his wife and kids came out, and for at least one hour, they got to take their mind off this cancer that was destroying his life. For one hour, he got to be happy and smile and live out one of his bucket-list wishes. Seeing that family’s reaction and their happiness—I mean, you can’t really frown in a hot air balloon. Even if you’re scared of heights, the nerves will calm down, and you can’t help but smile and just sort of take it all in. He died this summer, six months after that. That’s just it, though—making someone’s day, sometimes even making their dream come true, is special. I’m blessed to have hot air balloons and be able to do this. I think it’s part of my obligation to share this with other people because it is truly a unique hobby and sport that not a lot of people have access to.”
The Great Forest Park Balloon Glow and Race provides one of the greatest stages for the Schettlers to share this type of magic. “It’s one of the oldest balloon races in the country,” Dan says. “It’s one of the best attended. And it’s free—most of them aren’t. And so to have an event like that—it’s pretty satisfying to know that you’ve been a part of that.”
No matter how wide-reaching the race and glow becomes, the Schettlers will always see it as a family affair, which began with Dan and his friends and that now continues with Dan’s granddaughter, who often tells him she’s going to be a pilot someday.
“It’s a very small community, the ballooning community,” Dan says. “It’s special here, especially in the Midwest and with the Forest Park Balloon Race, and has been such a big part of our lives. I’d love to think that when I’m long gone, they’ll still be involved and expanding their friends and future family members to join.”
Check out our guide to the 52nd annual Great Forest Park Balloon Race and Glow here.
