Local balloon pilot will participate in the first ever National Women’s Championship

“When I was 6 years old, a friend, Sue Korosa, suggested to my mom that taking all us kids out for hot air balloon rides would be a good way to keep the house quiet for my dad so he could get his rest,” local pilot Shannon Rote said. “Dad used to work as a Wayne County deputy sheriff, and mom’s friend convinced her that taking me and my brother and sister ballooning would be a good way to let dad sleep.” And the rest as they say is herstory. Rote loved flying right from the start though her mom was reluctant at first. “The first time ever we went out to see that balloon on that farm it was my mom and my baby sister and my brother who was 7,” Rote said. “Mom didn’t think it sounded like fun, and it’s still not something she totally enjoys.” Rote on the other hand was fascinated. As soon as she got her driver’s license at age 16, she started crewing for Korosa. “I tell her, ‘It’s your fault. You’re the one who got me into this,’” Rote said about her now passion for being a hot air balloon pilot. She began to crew for her mom’s friend all the time. “She would call me, and I would chase.”Chasing means being a part of the recovery team/chase crew. Rote explains, “Every balloon has a crew. You have to have a crew to hook up the balloon, inflate it, launch it and then the crew follows it on the chase until it lands.” In areas where there is a lot of private property such as rural Wayne and Holmes counties, one of the jobs of the crew is to contact landowners and ask if it’s okay for the balloon to land on their property.As the pilot, Rote will radio down to her crew once she spots a likely landing site. If it’s a farm, the crew will just go up and knock on the door of the house and ask if landing is okay. “People are really nice about letting us land, and I love landing in Amish country because there are usually so many people who come to help us pack up.” Rote stresses that a big part of being either pilot or crew is to be very respectful of people’s wishes and property. “A few can ruin it for everyone,” she said. There are some places in the country where hot air balloons are no longer welcome because pilots have not taken care to respect residents when landing.One story she shares with a smile is a landing in the parking lot of a church on a Sunday morning. “It must’ve been either right before or after their service. There were so many people helping with the balloon that it got put away without ever touching the ground.” As Rote’s interest in flying soared she looked for a teacher and ended up finding much more. “As I got to know a lot of the local pilots, I started hanging out with Bob and Bev Zanella,” Rote said. “Bev was the second woman in Ohio to get her pilot license back in the ‘70s. Nearly every pilot in the area can trace their training back to Bob one way or another. It’s like a family tree, and everyone is related.” The Zanella’s had a business inspecting and repairing balloons, and Rote went to work for them with the understanding that Bob Zanella would pay her with flying lessons. “Bob became like a grandfather to me, and Bev, everyone calls her Momma Bev. She is my ballooning mom.” Bob Zanella passed away six years ago and is deeply missed.“I’ve landed my balloon in some spots that not a lot of pilots could’ve landed in because Bob worked with me on landings, landings, landings.” Rote shares her memories of her teacher and surrogate grandpa. “When I flew solo, I would call him afterwards, and he would say, ‘How many landings did you do?’ And if it was less than seven, he would ask me, ‘Why not? What happened?’” There is a particularly exciting event coming up on the horizon for Rote and a good-flying friend from Medina, Janet Letkus. It’s the first ever National Women’s Championship sponsored by the national organization, the Balloon Federation of America. Rote’s father will accompany her on the trip to the competition in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I’m going to wish Bob was there with me too, to help me figure everything out. He would be so proud.” Look for Rote at numerous local ballooning festivals throughout the area in the summer months and follow her scores at the National Women’s Championship at the Balloon Federation of America at www.bfa.net.