From Elated to Deflated



The Barbieris getting ready to
wrangle the fruitcake balloon

On December 1, our fruitcake balloon made its debut in the Dominion Christmas Parade. Created to celebrate Fruitcake Science, our favorite holiday tradition of destroying – oops, we mean experimenting on holiday fruitcakes in the name of scientific inquiry, we were thrilled to be floating everyone’s least-favorite holiday treat down Broad Street. A hearty bunch of staff and friends of the Museum wrangled the balloon, including our member contest winners – the Barbieri Family.

The drama began about four blocks into the journey, when the fruitcake encountered the low-hanging traffic lights at Broad and Allen Streets – the same intersection that gave the Rudolph balloon an unfortunate head injury two years ago.

The fruitcake handlers used all their muscle and might to get the fruitcake low enough to pass below the lights. After a few agonizing minutes of struggle, the fruitcake finally moved under the light and across the intersection.

But alas, the fruitcake had sustained a puncture wound and quickly began to deflate, ending its parade journey almost as soon as it began. You can watch the drama unfold here.

Do you think we will let a traffic light get in the way of our holiday fun? No way. The fruitcake balloon will be back next year – just a few feet shorter.  

Join us December 26-30 and help us perform some despicable experiments on fruitcakes, and bring a fruitcake to donate to science. Don’t worry about us telling your grandma or aunt. It will be our little secret.