Balloon rally opens
Event lifts off; hundreds brave cold

Eight-year-old fancy-dancer Maximus Sheka performs by a bonfire during the Red Rock Balloon Rally Glow in the Rocks at Red Rock Park Friday night. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Bernie Dotson
Staff writer

GALLUP — Paul Drake was not a balloon rally lover when he left for Fresno, Calif., three years ago. But when he came back to McKinley County about a week ago for the first time in a long time, he brought his 6-year-old son with him.

Drake, 38, is a Gallup native who never found the time over the years to attend the rally, considered a popular event and held just weeks before Christmastime.

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