Mark Churchman and his sons, Harrison and Elijah are the individuals responsible for brightening many of your days.

  For the past two weeks, Henry County residents have looked into the sky, either early in the morning or in the evening and seen a hot air balloon floating high above.

  With the beautiful weather that has been present lately, Mark has taken time over the past two weeks to teach his sons how to fly the balloon.

  “I’ve been training my two oldest sons,” said Mark. “We decided it was a great time to start flying, and it’s really good weather this time of year.”

  An unintended benefit of flying the balloon to train his sons has been bringing joy to residents of Henry County during the statewide stay at home order. 

  “We decided to fly and it was kind of a bonus,” said Mark. “The whole response was kind of a surprise. Everybody was happy to see it.”

  Danielle Morian was one such individual who was surprised to find the balloon flying over a lake and landing in a nearby field in the early hours of Friday, April 17.

  “I heard this noise and there was this big colorful thing through the trees and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a hot air balloon!’” said Morian. “I just thought it was really beautiful and amazing.”

  Mark has flown hot air balloons for 33 years, and is hoping to bring his air balloon business, once it gets up and running, to Henry County and the Atlanta area.

  “I’ve got to get the little things that need to be done and pretty it up,” said Mark. “There’s just things I’ve got to do to get this to where it runs the way it’s supposed to again. Everything came together at one time.”

  Over the years, Mark has shared his love of hot air balloons with his sons, and is happy that he is now able to train them to fly. 

  Growing up, his older son, Harrison, would often help his father prepare the balloon and provide safety tips and flight instruction to riders.

  “I was probably three years old when I went up for my first time. I always helped when I was a little kid,” said Harrison. “I always wanted my license and to have my own balloon when I grew up.”

  Younger son, Elijah, also remembers spending a lot of time in the air with his family, and he enjoys the peaceful feeling that flying the hot air balloon brings. 

  “Since I can remember, this was our weekend activity,” said Elijah. “Flying is peaceful and it kind of humbles you. It lets you see how big the world really is but how small we really are in comparison to everything around us.” 

  Harrison and Elijah hope to receive their licenses to fly as soon as they are able to accumulate enough hours of training time and complete the proper certification requirements.

  Over the next month, Mark will continue to take advantage of the favorable weather to train his sons and put in some extra hours of flight. 

  “In the next month, we’ll probably get 20 flights in,” said Mark.

  So, be sure to look up in the sky in the mornings and in the evenings and you might just see Mark’s hot air balloon floating high in the sky.