This commentary is by David M. Roth of St. Johnsbury, an agricultural entrepreneur.
Brian Boland made people happy. He gave countless people and families the most beautiful experience of their lives as he soared with them in one of his beautiful balloons, and he was at his very happiest floating above Lake Fairlee or the West Fairlee Church or wherever the wind would take him and his passengers.
Brian was a dedicated teacher and accomplished student of aviation who always stressed the critical importance of preparation and study and communication — and wow, was it clear when he communicated! Brian’s voice would boom over the sound off the propane burner, over the sounds of the fans that inflated his balloons and across the lake that he loved and cared for over decades.
Brian was teaching me to fly balloons, and in the process gave me the greatest gift of my life — the experience of true freedom. Brian taught me to focus on the most minute detail of the inflation and deflation process; he taught me to leave absolutely nothing to chance and, most importantly, he taught me to respect every whisper of wind and the slightest flutter of leaves that could indicate how, where and whether to fly.
He taught me about anabatic and katabatibc winds and rotors and downdrafts and updrafts and lift, but most importantly he taught me a skill that made me truly happy. It would take me hours after landing to stop smiling and my family wondered how on earth I could come home after every single flight and exclaim, “That was the greatest experience of my life!!”
So it was and so it will be remembered by all who knew and loved Brian. He was a singular force of nature who built impossible machines and collected many lifetimes’ worth of aviation and transportation history in his museum at the Post Mills Airport, and who always had the coolest, most interesting and most memorable floats in Fairlee’s July 4 parade.
This last parade was no exception. As we made our way down the road in Orford, across the bridge and through Fairlee, dozens of people shouted “Hey, Brian!” or pointed to him and told their kids, “That’s Brian who flies the balloon!”
Brian and a small group of friends were at the front of the parade in the last official drive for the former city bus he was converting into a diner. As we climbed aboard, Brian commented, “So first it was a bus, now it’s a float and soon it will be a diner!”
True to form and true to the entrepreneur’s DNA, Brian was creating reality every single moment of his life — and our reality is made much less joyful by his absence. However, also true to the entrepreneur’s DNA, Brian’s creations and lessons and spirit will persist and inspire countless others as they look to the sky and dream of what it might feel like to watch the sun set over the Green Mountains floating over a carpet of fall colors, realizing that life simply doesn’t get any better.
I miss my friend and my teacher. but will never forget the lessons Brian instilled. Yeats said it best: “Come Fairies and take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame!” Aloha, Brian.
