Balloons begin to rise

Jim Rodrigue salutes to the crowd gathered Thursday evening at Simard Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston where two balloons took flight on the eve of the Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston-Auburn that officially kicks off Friday morning with launches through the weekend at dawn and dusk. Rodrigue made this one man balloon he calls Jimmy Hoppa, over the winter, and hung around, tethered at the field, to give spectators a look at his newest "cloud hopper." For updated information on the launches, visit: http://www.sunjournal.com or http://www.greatfallsballoonfestival.org.

Russ Dillinghamballoonsballoon festival