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History

History of SEMBA

A Brief History of The Southeastern Michigan Balloon Association -

SEMBA
submitted and compiled by David Sgriccia

Preface and Author’s comments
It was February 20, 1979 and my telephone rang. I remember this because it was the day before my birthday.
My first thought was that someone was calling to wish me a Happy Birthday. I said: “Hello”. The caller said: “Hi. My
name is Steve Krystoff. I am a balloonist in Rochester.” And that was when I became aware of a local movement to
form SEMBA.

The State of Michigan, primarily the south east area, became a hotbed of ballooning in the mid-1970s. Why?
I am not sure. But, we had some of the earliest balloon pilots in the country. These early balloonists also became
extremely brand loyal. There was Dennis Floden in the Flint area who was a Raven (now Aerostar) dealer; in
Rochester we had Linden Harding who promoted Barnes (now FireFly) and then out in Ann Arbor were Bruce & Tucker Comstock who were avid Cameron (still Cameron) dealers and soon to be builders.

Nearly all the balloonists who learned to fly in SE Michigan can trace their roots to one of these three. And
all those students and then their students became extremely brand loyal. There were even balloon rallies that would
only allow one brand of balloon. There were numerous jokes... some still going around today... ‘Don’t fly a Raven... they are over-engineered and overpriced’. ‘I would never fly a Cameron. No burner uprights. You’ll get hit in the head on landings’. ‘Fly a Barnes!?! No way. With those three sided baskets you will always land on a corner and roll’. ... And on and on...
So, we did not have much communication between these factions. There was no sharing of information like
landowner relations, safety issues, etc.

The discussion that Steve pursued on that first telephone call was to teardown these brand-based biases. He wanted
us to begin a line of communication that would benefit all balloon pilots in the area. I thought his ideas were
very enlightening and I agreed that the concept should be pursued. I was probably not the first person he called and I
know I was not the last.

The Beginning - March 4, 1979

Steve Krystoff mailed out a letter to every pilot he could locate in SE Michigan. He utilized the 1978 BFA Pilot
Roster for the names and relied on other sources for non- BFA member pilots. In summary he wrote:

“Dear Esteemed Balloonist:
“You are cordially invited to attend a meeting at the Rochester Community House on Saturday April 7, 1979
for the sole purpose of braking [sic] up the ‘no-fly winter blues’ and an attempt at organizing a Southeastern Michigan
Balloon Association...”
“The main intention for trying to form a Balloon Association is to: (1) Set-up a means of communication
in our ballooning community, (2) Swap useful information, (3) Promote safety, and (4) Have fun. No private
balloon business is intended to be carried out during the meetings.”...

The meeting was held on April 7th at 7:30 pm. Approximately 30 people attended with over 20 being
balloon pilots. The consensus was that there was a need and a desire to form a regional, image-conscious organization
with the goals of fun group flying, socializing and education through safety and information sharing.

An organizational committee was formed which consisted of: Chairperson Sue Tkachik, Wayne Warren, Blake
Thomson, Ted McKissack, Steve Krystoff, Bob Isles and Linden Harding. This group met on April 21, 1979. They
started the ground work for the Charter of the organization, the by-laws and some of the early direction. They also
scheduled a pilot-membership meeting for May 5, 1979.

The topics for that meeting were:
1. Progress report on filing of a non-profit corporate status for the organization.
2. Review of the Charter. It was decided that there would be two membership classes - Pilots and Associates. Only
pilot members would have voting privileges.
3. Preliminary By-laws were drafted and many topics needed clarification and opinions from the general
membership for direction. Things such as:
a. Dues structure
b. Membership qualifications
c. Officers and terms (how many and how long)
d. Meetings (frequency and location)
e. Additional ideas, concerns, etc.

The First Newsletter - May 1979
If the main purpose of forming SEMBA was communication then the best way to communicate was
through the use of a monthly newsletter mailed to all the members. The first issue came out in May 1979
shortly after the May 5th membership meeting. Steve Krystoff wrote, compiled and mailed out the first few
newsletters. The May 1979 issue announced the fact that the proper papers had been filed with the State to
form The Southeastern Michigan Balloon Association. It also included the club’s By-Laws and a membership
application.

The formation of the first Land Owner Relations and PZ committee was announced. Members were Linden Harding,
Dennis Kollin, Ren Sagaert and Wayne Warren. The next membership meeting was scheduled for June 16, 1979. At
this meeting the members would finalize the By-Laws and submit nominations for the first slate of club officers.

The First Members - June 16, 1979

The First Officers - August 18, 1979
President - Steve Krystoff
Vice President - Darlene Provencher
Treasurer - Wayne Warren
Secretary & Newsletter Editor - Blake Thomson
Safety Director - Ted Gauthier

The First Guest Speakers - September 23, 1979
Mr. Jim Hill from Detroit Edison spoke at the September ‘79 membership meeting about power lines facts and
how they function. Additionally, the BFA President Bill Murtorff was in attendance and he gave the membership
an insight into how the Houston Balloon Club approached various topics.

The First SEMBA Logo - October 1979
The first SEMBA logo was created by Barb McKissack. The directors had 18 designs to consider.

The First Montgolfier Party - November 17, 1979

Over thirty SEMBA members experienced a fun and
entertaining evening at Darlene and David Schaefer’s house in Chelsea. Each guest brought a French dish to pass. The
entertainment consisted of movies of early ballooning in Michigan and early US Nationals in living color. Narration
was provided by Tucker Comstock and corrections by Bruce Comstock and others...

The First Safety Seminar - March 15-16, 1980
Aptly named “A Maiden Voyage” SEMBA hosted its first Pilot Refresher Seminar. The presenters were: Joe
Blumberg, Chuck Boren, Don Butler, Tucker Comstock, Ted Gauthier, David Sgriccia, Paul Sgriccia, Blake Thomson
and Jeff VanAlstine. Fifty-two pilots attended the two day event in Ann Arbor.

The End of The First Year - April 1980
In April of 1980 SEMBA had a membership exceeding 70 Pilot and Associates. A lot of ground was covered in
this first year: a newsletter born, Open Sanction Tasks were hosted, group fun flights were held, a Safety Seminar,
an Observer Training Course, PZ map started, an accident reporting system was in place and the social functions were
nothing but fun.

SEMBA by any other name...
SEMBA has been referred to as:
South Eastern Michigan Balloon Association
Southeastern Michigan Balloon Association
South East Michigan Balloon Association
Southeast Michigan Balloon Association
S/E Michigan Balloon Association
SE Michigan Balloon Association

Steve Krystoff’s original letter stated “Southeastern”. The organizational committee in 1979 called itself the
“Michigan Balloon Association”. The original By-Laws in 1979 stated “Southeastern”. Updated By-Laws in 1986
called the club “South Eastern”. Newsletters from time to time have used different variations.
To settle the confusion we acquired a copy of the original Articles of Incorporation filed in June 1979 with the State
of Michigan...the official name is:
The Southeastern Michigan Balloon Association
It was formed “To provide for the advancement of sport ballooning in the state of Michigan and to serve as
a medium though which individuals may cooperatively contribute to the enjoyment, safety and public acceptance
of sport ballooning.”

The members have accomplished all that and more over the last 27 years. There have been tough years with the
membership roster down and an apparent lack of interest, but through all that the members should be proud that
communication and safety have continued to keep the spirit and purpose of the association alive.

Soft Landings,
David M. Sgriccia - August 2006