Dr. Van F. Anderson returns as Mountaineer Balloon Festival Balloonmeister for the 17th year.

In 1983 Van got his first close-up look at a balloon at the Adirondack Balloon Festival and immediately lined up Walt Grishkot, the Chairman of that event to help him start the Mountaineer Balloon Festival in Morgantown, where he was then Director of Parks and Recreation. Van chaired that event for the first five years, and since then has served as the Balloonmeister.

He operates Fun Aviation, Inc., a family balloon business. Van is a commercial pilot and an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner for balloon pilot certification in both gas and hot air balloons. For eight years, Dr. Anderson taught a course in Manned Ballooning at West Virginia University-that's higher education for sure.

In the real world, Van teaches Park and Recreation Management at Marshall University.