balloon release

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Any opinions from the list about balloon releases as part of a Sunday
School promotion?  I recall one sunny day some twenty-five years ago
when the Sunday school my brother and I attended released balloons in
the clear skies of Omaha Nebraska.  My brother's balloon made the
distance record -- his balloon was retrieved in SPAIN.

Today, we know that toy balloons are extremely hazardous to marine life
and can be dangerous for aircraft.

Our church did a balloon release last Sunday morning.  The kids had
fun, and it was a neat sight seing hundreds of latex balloons floating
into the blue prairie sky.  Research shows that toy latex balloons can
go up to 30,000 feet.  Maybe my son's will hit the jet stream and make
it to Europe before the helium runs out :-)

We did get one interesting call yesterday.  Some of the balloons got
entangled in the engine and landing gear of a commercial airplane
flying in from Chicago :-(  The airport people were very nice, but they
did inform us of the real dangers and damage to aircraft that balloon
releases can cause.

Does anybody else have similar anectodes?

Richard Masoner
richardm@cd.com