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Gloria and Luckie Lawrence
Gloria and husband Luckie (pictured at right) crew for various balloons, including Euphoria, Adventure of the Heart, Propane Addiction, RE/Max, Jester Unwindz, and Dreamtime. Gloria previously served as Secretary to the NBC.
Luckie and Gloria celebrated their 10 year wedding anniversary last July (2008). Luckie has two boys: James, 25 and Alex, 21. Gloria has one daughter, Trisha, age 25 married to Craig, also 25. Luckie works in sales and has been a professional wedding photographer for over 35 years. Gloria works at First National Bank as an administrative professional in Corporate Risk Management.
Gloria and her daughter Trisha have always enjoyed going to events where there were hot air balloons. Most of the time they would stay close to the car so once the balloons were in the air they could get to the car fast and follow them from point A to point B. One time (many years ago) while Gloria and Trisha were home a balloon floated close by and landed in the school parking lot just a few feet behind their back yard. They were so excited and quickly ran to see if they could help and to talk to the pilot. The pilot was giving a ride to an elderly lady for her birthday. "He didn't pack up yet ... instead they took off and continued the flight. Sorry I have no idea who the pilot was and I don't have any pictures. Back then we used this thing called film and I guess I didn't have any in the camera at that time."
The summer of 1994 Gloria and her friend Cheryl drove their kids to Indianola, IA to see a massive balloon event. They had a great time watching along with all the other spectators as these beautifully colored balloons prepared to float away above them. It was awesome! In the summer of 2001 Luckie and Gloria drove their kids to Michigan for a family vacation. Before they left Gloria checked the Internet to see if she could find a schedule for the Iowa event and possibly stop there on the way through to Michigan. She did find the schedule and they were able to see a morning flight on their way. She also found a picture of the A & W balloon asking for people to help crew. She wrote an email explaining that she could not crew this particular year but would be interested in helping the next year. When they returned home, Gloria found a response to her email saying that she had been added to the crew list. So, the next year she was invited to the field before the event to go through some basic crew training. Gloria enjoys crewing and taking pictures so much that from time to time her daughter and/or Luckie would help.
Then Luckie grew to love it just a much and now he and Gloria are always together at the events.
Outside of helping the local pilots here in town for private and club flights they have also crewed in Indianola, Iowa Western Community College, Creston, IA, Hudson, WI and Sioux Falls, SD. They've made several trips to McCook, NE where they would meet up with friends Cheryl & her son Conner who traveled from their new home in Westminster Colorado to spend the weekends together and crew. Some of the pilots Luckie and/or Gloria have crewed for over the years are Harold Graves, Bruce Skach, Dick Drake, Brandon Smith, Gene Elsasser, Steve Lacroix, Tom Peterson, Rich Jaworski and Matthew Grote.
Gloria went for her first balloon ride in McCook with Steve Lacroix in 2003. Luckie went for his first ride in Omaha with Rich Jaworski in 2004. Trisha went on her first ride in Omaha with Rich Jaworski in 2004. Cheryl & Conner went for their first ride together in McCook with Tom Peterson. Gloria says, "I don't remember the year but they flew in a box so the ride wasn't very far away from the airport but it was awesome for them nonetheless. Needless to say after these rides they were all 'hooked on a feeling'!"
Asked about their hobbies, Gloria said they include crewing and photography for both of them, while Luckie enjoys woodworking and gardening (vegetables). Gloria enjoys making clocks, cards and scrapbooking (see below), and gardening (flowers and herbs).
Gloria makes and sells clocks and greeting cards. Luckie cuts and sands the wood and Gloria decorates them. Gloria says, "I custom make with just about any theme (click the photos at left to enlarge). For example, if a pilot wanted one with just their balloon we could take pictures of the balloon/crewpgs/pilot in different inflation/flight stages. The Harley clock obviously is not complete yet but will be soon." The clocks sell for $38 each.
"Here are some greeting cards I have made. They can also be custom made, however I'm not Hallmark® so they are blank inside. I can include a sentiment on the outside such as Happy Birthday, Anniversary, Thinking of You, Hello, a person's or pet's name, etc."
Contact Gloria and Luckie at: hookd.on.a.feeling@gmail.com