This article is in memory of Andy Richardson. Andy came to Safford in December of 2020 as word spread that the Lindsey's were getting a group of balloonists together to fly over the New Year's weekend. Andy was actually a balloon builder and owned Adam's Balloons in Albuquerque, NM, and Bloomington, IL. He is responsible for helping the Lindsey's build Just Ducky and Floating Awaysis. During this weekend, as the Lindsey's and Andy were sitting around a fire at Lindsey Lagoon, he turned to Greg and asked if we could do this again next year. Greg thought about it and talked to his wife, Susan, to see if they could create an event for the community. Within a few months, they knew they wanted to have an event in Safford. If you knew Andy, he would always be the last person in the world to fill out a pilot application to attend the event and the Lindsey's knew it wouldn't be filled out until the last day. Sadly, on November, 15, 2021, Andy, at the age of 35, passed away due to complications of Covid. As the pilot registrations were reviewed, Greg and Susan both chuckled when they saw that Andy was actually the first pilot to respond to the registration. Normally, he would have been the last. It showed us how important this event was for him as he never took time off from balloon building and flying balloons to vacaetion. In memory of Andy, Greg took on the responsibility to fly his memorial flight in honor of Andy Richardson on Thursday. Toughest flight Greg ever had to do.
Dec. 29, 2024 Thru Jan. 1, 2025
