Organizers give Eyes to Skies thumbs-up

Perfect summer weather created largely smooth sailing for organizers and visitors at this year's Eyes to the Skies festival in Lisle.

"It went nothing short of fantastic," Chairman Roger Leone said Tuesday. "The weather was great, the crowds were happy and having fun. It was just a great overall festival."

Leone said the festival and carnival drew roughly 40,000 people over its five-day run at Community Park, a significant increase from last year's 27,000.

Organizers say they won't know how much money they made for a few weeks, but they expect profits to top the $40,000 generated in 2009.

"We hope to surpass last year's dollar amount," Leone said. "I'm pretty confident we will."

All proceeds are distributed to charities in the community, including the Rotary and Lions clubs.

Leone said organizers already are discussing what went well and what can be improved next year.

For example, a new shaded dining area that included two large tents near the main stage turned out to be a successful addition.

"It sounds very simple, but it was very popular and we're going to expand it next year," Leone said.

He said tethered balloon rides also were popular, although some changes may be made next summer.

"The line was so long and then by the time you got to the balloon it was too windy to go up, so we're going to hopefully get another balloon or two next year," he said.

Another problem this year was a misunderstanding by some patrons about when the hot-air balloons take flight, despite information on the festival's website and in brochures indicating they fly only in the early morning and late evening.

Some visitors showed up in the middle of the afternoon - when winds are too strong for the balloons - and asked why they weren't flying.

"Next year I think we're going to inform and educate people better about balloons," Leone said. "The pilots do the best they can to get those envelopes up, but if it's too windy they're just really out of control."

In order to keep people entertained who want to see something in the sky at midday, organizers are considering model airplane flights.

Overall, though, organizers agree this year's Eyes was a success.

"I can't say enough of how everything went well, really thanks to all the people who put it together, all the volunteers," Leone said. "It's such a massive undertaking and everybody did their part. It was a great time."