Up, up & Away

Five multicolored hot air balloons competed for space Wednesday on the grass-clumped field before a line of about 35 children and teens. They stood in groups and commented on how the balloons looked pushing against one another and lifting into the air, one by one.

“It was awesome,” said Rachel Alexander, 12. “It looked like they all were going to pop like water balloons.”

Pamela Marquis, director of Camp Hickory Hill, said the camp has had balloonists visit for about 10 years. Some years the balloonists give campers free rides as donations to the camp.

Balloonists like to share the fun of their sport, said Gary Sines, co-owner of BalloonStormers with his wife, Jan Sines. They have visited Hickory Hill for the past eight years because they are familiar with the camp and its cause.

Camp Hickory Hill is also known as Central Missouri Diabetic Children’s Camp, and its cause is to educate campers to manage and control their diabetes.

The camp is for youths ages 8 to 17 who are insulin-dependent. It is a nonprofit corporation run almost entirely by volunteers. The balloonists are also volunteers of sorts, donating time and resources to give children a rare experience.

Because the balloon companies are run individually, camp coordinators often have no idea how many balloons to expect.

Nine-year-old Mikey Peebles said that he likes the camp because “it helps me get control of my diabetes.” Campers have daily classes that teach subjects including insulin administration, carbohydrate counting, glucose monitoring, diet, foot care and exercise.

This is Mikey’s second year at Hickory Hill. He said the camp helps him with his diabetes when he returns home. The camp taught him what to do when he is low in blood sugar.

“You feel queasy, like you’re going to fall over,” he said.

Now he knows to check his insulin level and get a snack.

Marquis said the camp is an essential way for youths to become independent and responsible in controlling their treatment.

“(The camp) is a first step in their independence because their mommys are not giving them shots,” Marquis said.

Sophia Cygnarowicz, 10, had her first experience at Hickory Hill this year, but has been diagnosed with diabetes for nine years. Cygnarowicz said she missed her mother and isn’t sure whether she’ll come back next year. But it’s “nice to be with other kids going through the same thing” she said.

Other campers emphasized the importance of socializing with peers diagnosed with diabetes.

“It’s fun to be with other kids my age who actually have diabetes, and where I live there’s no one there that does,” Rachel Alexander, 12, said.

Marquis said children with diabetes often feel they are the only children in their community with the disease. The camp is helpful for them, she said, because the campers act as mentors for one another and can “grow and become kids.”

Activities during the camp are an important part of letting children have fun. Some campers’ favorite features are the mud pit, swimming pool and the rappelling course. Campers also play capture the flag, dodgeball, volleyball and other sports. The camp has also had helicopter visits and martial arts demonstrations in past years.

As for Jan Sines, she said she gets just as much from the events as the kids in attendance.

“You kinda have to be an unhappy person not to like a hot air balloon,” she said.