below is the transcript for the attached newspaper clipping pictures from the Blair paper.  April 2023
A JourneyThrough the Sky– Published in BlairEnterprise News April 21,2023 — Blair resident Rich Jaworski hascompleted many hot air ballooning feats. Flying since 1972, Jaworski has brokenthree world records, taken more than 7,000 passengers on more than2,800 hours of trips and helped raise more than $360,000 towardcharities. He was inducted into the NebraskaAviation Hall of Fame in 2021, and the BFA’s National Ballooning Hallof Fame in 2021. He was Nebraska’s Balloon Clubpresident for 18 years, and trained 10 students to earn theirballooning licenses. To add to the list, Jaworski was givena prestigious honor this past Saturday in Omaha: the Wright BrothersMaster Pilot Award. This is given to pilots who have flownfor 50 years or more, in the civilian or military setting. “It’s the last award I’ll everget,” he said. “I don’t feel I really earned this awardwithout the help of my Balloon Club buddies, and their contributionto help us made it possible for me. My wife (Paula) helped me a lot.Being in the Hall of Fame nationally was a larger, personal honor forme, but the fact that this… represents something that most peopledon’t get a chance to do, I’m very thankful.I’ve done a lot and I’ve had a goodtime. I’ve had a great, great ride. Unfortunately, I’m just to thepoint where I’m 80 years old and it’s not time to go out and flyanymore.” A 50-year history In 1954 at age 12, Jaworski found hispassion for ballooning when he was in Cub Scouts. “At Aksarben,Dad put together a balloon ascension for two weather balloons —they’re not very big,” he said. “We ran the balloons aroundthe auditorium for the audience and then we had to get rid of them,so we took them outside to the parking lot in Omaha at Aksarben andlet them go. As those balloons drifted off over the night sky ofOmaha and the city lights reflected on them, that’s where I got a bit(inspired).” It wasn’t until 1960 that Ed Yostinvented hot air balloons, Jaworski said, and then he was able toread about them in National Geographic. “I was early in the introductionphase, and it made it really exciting for me to be doing other peoplehadn’t done yet,” he said. Perhaps his greatest moment flying,beyond the world records, was two years into his career, when he tookWorld War I American Balloonists on a company reunion trip. “Wewere down at Howard Johnson’s in Omaha on 74th and Dodge (nearInterstate-80), and I got my balloon out, and these guys, instead ofbeing 80 or 90 years old, were 20 years old again, and that was themost significant flight, I think, I’ve had, despite all the recordsand things,” he said. “That was a great honor.” Some of Jaworski’s flight tripsincluded many long-lasting memories for his passengers. “One ofmy crowning experiences last year was we were doing a balloon glow atDitmars Orchard in Council Bluffs, and this mother came up with threekids in tow, and she looked up and said, ‘I was proposed to in this balloon.’That made me feel good,” he said. “One time, a guy herefrom St. Francis Borgia (Church), he hired me to fly his mom, and shewas terminal (with an illness). And he came up to me a couple yearslater and says, ‘You know, that balloon ride was the best thing weever did for my mom. She talked about that with everybody that cameto see her.” During his acceptance speech in Omaha,Jaworski said he went through several precarious and memorablemoments during his career, which included his solo trips that earnedhis world records. Jaworski encourages anyone interestedin hot air ballooning to give the activity a try. “It’s such a fun thing to go doand see, it has so many facets in the flight or participation,meeting people and you have to work with people to get whereveryou’re going,” he said. “The people I had on my crew, theyknew what to do, and I was relying on each them to do what their jobwas. It all fit together.” Throughout his career, Jaworski hasheld on to one important message: “A balloon is not just oneperson. It’s bigger than one person. It just demonstrates thatthere’s a lot to a balloon more than just the flight,” he said.”It creates a memory, it creates a feeling.”