06/16/07 — 
Click image for slideshow
Gentlemen who’ve proposed: Consider yourselves outdone.
It wasn’t enough for Matt Kinzig to pop The Question at a fancy restaurant, a scenic waterfront or some other traditionally-opportune place and time. No, he had to go and raise the bar a couple thousand feet — literally — by bringing out the ring during a ride in a hot-air balloon aptly called “Diamond Girl.”
The perfect time came around 10 minutes after pilot Ken Kus lifted off from Allegheny College’s Robinson Field at Friday’s Thurston Classic launch. Kinzig said he and Kus had to wait until the balloon was positioned well enough that Kus could take on the extra job of videotaping the moment, being careful to not let the cat out of the basket, so to speak.
So, with a gentle breeze guiding the balloon’s basket across the blue sky, he asked. And she (of course) said yes. “It was amazing. And now we’re engaged,” said Kinzig.
“It was just great,” said Kinzig’s now-betrothed love, Jennifer Robinson. “It was the perfect romantic setting. ...I’m really surprised and happy.”
Kinzig, a news photographer at WJET-TV, said he started hatching the plan after riding along in a hot-air balloon on assignment at last year’s Thurston Classic. “I knew when I met her that she was the one. ...I knew I wanted to propose, and I really wanted it to be in a hot-air balloon.”
Robinson said she’d wanted to take a balloon ride ever since her grandfather had taken one. And the thought of Kinzig proposing in one had crossed her mind.
Before Friday’s ride, she said “in the back of my mind, I was thinking ‘that would be cool,’ but I didn’t really expect it to happen.”
And the moment was made “extra special,” she said, when Kinzig gave her the ring, custom-made from a ring that Robinson’s grandfather had given to her grandmother.
That experience “is something we’re going to remember for the rest of our lives,” said Kinzig. “That’s the way I wanted it.”
He thanked Kus and his crew, as well as WJET-TV News Director Lou Baxter and his colleagues at the news station for their help in pulling the plan together. Thurston Classic organizers said while there was an in-air wedding at a past event, Friday’s proposal, to their knowledge, marked the first in the event’s 19-year history.
Kinzig, 25, and Robinson, 26, live in Erie. Wedding plans, they said, will be forthcoming.
But not before they get their feet back on the ground.
You can go
Following are the times of all remaining hot-air balloon events for this weekend’s Thurston Classic. Times are subject to change or postponement due to weather conditions.
Today — Flight over Allegheny College’s soccer field at the Robertson Field Complex off Park Avenue at approximately 7 a.m.
Today — Launch at approximately 6 p.m. out of Allegheny College’s soccer field at the Robertson Field Complex off Park Avenue.
Sunday — Flight over Allegheny College’s soccer field at the Robertson Field Complex off Park Avenue at approximately 7 a.m.
You can help
It costs $40,000 to $45,000 to cover expenses for the Thurston Classic hot-air balloon event. All events are free to the public; funding comes from corporate sponsorships and donations by the public.
Persons interested in making a donation may give at one of the donation boxes at the event or may send a donation to: Thurston Classic hot-air balloon event, in care of Watts & Pepicelli PC, 916 Diamond Park, Meadville, Pa. 16335.
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Mid-air proposal makes Thurston history
- Local News
-
-
Elderly, disabled and their caregivers have tremendous new local resource
The new Crawford County Link isn’t a place, but an information network to help people age 60 and older or those between 18 and 59 with disabilities stay living independently.
-
County's median age rising as population still stable
Crawford Countians are growing older and aging in place.
-
Crawford Central yearlong pay freeze plan fails
Differences over details have derailed a contract featuring a one-year pay freeze for Crawford Central School district teachers, leaving district administrators looking for ways to close an unexpectedly large 2012-13 budget gap.
-
Saegertown singer has date with CMT
A Saegertown man will appear on the Country Music Television (CMT) show “Singing Bee” on June 1 at 8 and 11 p.m.
-
Court ruling means county politicking can continue
A proposed resolution to limit Crawford County employees from serving as a chair or vice chair of a political party can’t be enacted because of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling in a Montgomery County case.
-
Officials: Rape suspect kills himself before trial
A Crawford County jail inmate died at an Erie hospital early Saturday morning in the wake of an apparent suicide attempt, according to county officials.
-
Cambridge radio station offers soundtrack of local music scene
Lately, “I’ve been having a heavy-duty highlight on local artists every other hour,” Sam Reese said as he sat at the controls of WXCS 92.9 recently, queuing up the current block of tunes lined up for play.
- NEW LOCAL: Crawford County jail inmate dies at Erie hospital
- NEW LOCAL: Fire destroys Cambridge Springs area barn and dairy herd
-
Longtime Linesville librarian leaving
Lana Hartzell said she wasn’t necessarily looking to take on more work when she received a call back in 1983 from the group aiming to establish a public library in Linesville. She was plenty busy at home with three children at the time, and hadn’t exactly been planning on embarking on a new career as a local librarian.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Elderly, disabled and their caregivers have tremendous new local resource
Serial Stabbings Suspect Guilty of Murder
Facebook Shares Continue Negative Slide
8 Hurt in Oklahoma Shooting After NBA Playoff
US Airways: Diverted Flight Has 'Landed Safely'
A Few Odd Business Sparks but Europe Gloomy
Revived Focus on Regulation After JPMorgan Loss
Gerard Butler: the Good, the Bad and the Cannes
At Least 25 Dead in India Train Collision
Raw Video: Private Rocket Blasts Off
Boy to Rescuers: 'Do You Have a Plan?'
Doctors and Devotees Debate Barefoot Running
Blacks Seek to Find Their Own Missing
Houston Museum Unveils $85 Million Dinosaur Hall
Chicago Police: 90 Arrested in NATO Protests
Ex-Rutgers Student Gets 30 Days in Webcam Case
Obama Sees Inspiration in Joplin Graduates
Raw Video: Man Saved After Niagara Falls Plunge
NATO: Afghan Exit 'Irreversible'
Catholic Groups Sue Over Contraception Mandate
4 Arrested After Man's Beating at Dodger Stadium
