You can inflate a balloon in three seconds, four seconds I understand. How
long is it gonna take these kids with no experience? -We're figuring that they'll
do about two or three balloons a minute. I've been doing this since I was fifteen
years old so it's unfair to compare but two to three balloons a minute each kid
is going to do, correctly, about 700 balloons or so for the day. And we'll do
it in about four to six hours, all the balloons. -Don't remember folks, don't park
on the square because this ain't the place where your car this weekend.
Back to you. -Sounds like fun, David. Thank you.
–I understand we might have a northerly wind too so they'll all wind up over Canada
Ha ha.
[Helicopter whirring]
Ladies and gentlemen, live from downtown
Cleveland, it's Big Chuck and Little John
in front of the biggest happening around.
Okay thank you John, and we have a real
story to tell you. This is not—we're not making this up,
this really happened, Mary Ellen bought two bunches of balloons to give to John
and I here she came down and one of the bunches of balloons she had tied to her
watch and the watch opened up and the balloons took the watch and it's now
going out east somewhere, so John and I say if anybody finds Mary Ellen's watch
tied to a bunch of balloons like this, and if you return it to the station
we'll have all kind of rewards for you. Okay thanks for coming down Mer. Who do
you have there John? –What is your name? -Tanya Pierre. -Ok Tanya, show everybody what you have
on your hands there, what are those? -Tape bandages. -Okay and what are they for?
They're for…keeping your hands away from sores. -Did you get any blisters? -Yeah, three.
-Are you having a good time? -Yeah. -Are you tired? -Yeah. -Okay. Okay, Chuck as you
can see they're going strong, they're blowing them up, I still think they have
the record. Back to you Chuck. [Cheers]
It's something that's been in the planning page since March
of this year so a lot of technical research and research through the city permits.
It's endless, it's absolutely astonishing to try to get something like this off, let alone
waiting for good weather. -So this is a big plus for Cleveland. -Oh it's something
that, you know, they predicted 70% chance of showers today and I think this is a
prime example what United Way is trying to do in terms of saying, "Cleveland it's
your time. It's time to say yes, it's time to say it is a happening city. We are on
the move. It's no longer the butt of jokes or anything. I've been in the city
now for six months and I absolutely love it. My wife and I have even talked of
moving here. Our friends in LA I think we're nuts, but it is a wonderful place.
If I had money to invest this is where I'd be investing in. -Very, very good.
Thank you, thank you. Okay. -Yeah we were just talking– Ten, nine, eight, seven
six, five, four, three, two, one!
Take 'em away, liftoff!
[Cheers]
[Unintelligible] …up and there they go, John!
The Guinness Book of World Records has just been broken in
Cleveland. Over one million, five hundred thousand balloons going up in the air at this very, very moment.
Look at the [unintelligible]. We did it! -We did it, John! It's completely covering the terminal tower.
Look at that! I wanna sing "Up, Up and Away!"
It is awesome, ladies and gentlemen, to actually be down here and see the multi-
colors that are going up in the air at this moment. This is it!
Let's hear it for
Cleveland. [Cheers]
[Yelling] Cleveland!
Ladies and gentlemen, there is no mistake on the lake anymore. Cleveland
has now broken the Guinness Book of World Records and released over one
million, five hundred thousand balloons.
Think of—think, think of that, Chuck. The Guinness Book of World Records.
The Cleveland, home of the—home of the home of, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. All of this
this in Cleveland, Ohio. -The All-American city, how many events can we take over in 1986 [fades out]
[Helicopter whirring]
-It's been an exhausting search for these Coast Guardsmen, they've been out on the
water most of the day looking for two 40 year-old Cleveland men, Skip Sullivan
and Raymond Broderick. They went out fishing about an hour before last night's heavy
storm blew through. This is their boat. A pair of life jackets still in it, along
with a hat and a fishing pole. The boats motor is gone, its sides are battered
apparently from pounding all night against this section of the breakwall
off Edgewater Park. That's where the Coast Guard found the boat about 8:30
this morning. Ironically that big balloon launch in Cleveland today is one of
the things that's making this search so tough for the Coast Guard. Can you
imagine trying to find somebody floating out here or even spotting a lifejacket
with all these balloons on the water. -It's like trying to find a needle in a
haystack here because, you're right, you're looking for more or less a head or
orange lifejacket, and here you have a couple hundred thousand orange—orange balloons
and it's just hard to decipher which is which.
-Because of weather sixty percent
of the balloons launched landed here instead of the planned ten percent. Many of
them were found on Lake Erie.
But the balloons that covered the lake and
caused concern on Saturday are no longer here today. No one's quite sure where
they went but at least they're no longer posing a threat to fish and wildlife, and
they're not littering the lake.
Michelle Holden, Live on Five.
[Helicopter whirring continues]