It takes about 15 minutes from the time the material is stretched out on the field until it's turned upright, preparatory to taking off. Some 700 hot air balloons are launched in total. The sky is afloat in a sea of color and shapes. Besides the standard balloon shapes, there are animals and cartoon characters filling the air above.

Floating above may be an upside-down Humpty-Dumpty, a boy and girl bee, a mushroom house, a devil, an angel, a mammoth cow, a Wells Fargo wagon and a Jack Daniels bottle. In the gondolas that steer the crafts there may be one person or several, depending on the size of the basket or the inclination of the owner.

Some balloons are owned privately, some by corporations. All have a ground crew to keep the craft anchored before send-off and help steady it upon landing. One balloon had a single pilot, sans gondola. He rode simply on a platform, clothed in shorts and sandals, yet landed smoothly, aided by his ground crew.

Since dawn had just barely broken, the temperature was brisk (we were in earmuffs and ski jackets) and it had to have been even brisker as high up as he drifted. The people who marshal the timing of the ascents are called zebras because they wear black-and-white uniforms.

Despite the crowds in the sky and the possibility of fire, there's never been a fatality, we were told. However, some injuries are sustained. On the final day, the Smokey the Bear balloon tangled with a radio tower. The balloon was somehow secured to the 650-foot tower, and the three riders managed to scramble down.

Workers on the tower said it generally takes them half an hour to reach top or bottom. But the 10- and 12-year-olds who were passengers in Smokey made it down much faster than that—setting something of a record, I imagine. The third passenger, an adult, descended at a more deliberate pace.

A VIVID 95th: Here's someone who has never missed a chance to vote and has exercised that right through seven decades. Meet Mary Urzi, she of the talented talons, who was feted with a 95th birthday bash at Kuleto's recently by daughters Jeanette McKinney and Carol Urzi and granddaughter Denise Howell.

The nonagenarian Urzi worked at Idamina's for 25 years until it moved to Winchester Boulevard. But the fashion maven's fame these days rests on her fingernails, handpainted by Fatima's and rendered in shocking pink to match her silk floral dress and coat. On each tip was an orchid, a minute reflection of a Gaeta corsage.

The thumbnails proclaimed "95 years old." Mary was toasted for her zest for life and her open mind and heart, as well as her talents as family historian and photographer. She gardens daily, drives, and is the great-grandmother of 10-month-old Tyler Howell.

SWHA MEMBER: Bill Taylor of W.L. Taylor Construction, Los Gatos, is the newest member of Sunset Western Home Alliance. Sunset Magazine created the alliance to recognize the West's best homebuilders. The SWHA fosters information exchange on trends impacting the home-building industry.

SWHA members have to meet strict criteria for excellence in customer service, construction, employing energy-efficiency standards and innovative, efficient use of interior space. Taylor specializes in the building of new and renovated custom homes throughout the Peninsula.

He works with a design-build approach, collaborating with architect and owner to work with the owner's budget, design expectations and schedule. In addition to building, Taylor also helps clients find property.

GRANT RECIPIENTS: This year's recipients of grants from the Los Gatos Community Foundation are Loma Prieta Community Foundation Theatre in the Mountains; Museums of Los Gatos; Friends of the Los Gatos Public Library; Assistance League of LG/Saratoga; and Live Oak Adult Day Services.

The foundation yearly awards grants to nonprofits that serve Los Gatans. Applications are submitted in April, reviewed by the Grants and Scholarship Committee, chaired by Michelle Nelson, and awarded in the fall. Paul Dubois is foundation president.

WHITE CANES: The LG Lions raised more than $8,000 in its recent campaign to aid the sight impaired. George Neukam and his crew were the mainstays.

MARATHON: The Silicon Valley Marathon Oct. 31 is a fundraiser for the Silicon Valley Children's Hospital. The race will be a marathon, half marathon and 5K walk/run. It starts at Woz Way near the Discovery Museum in San Jose and follows the Los Gatos Creek Trail for nearly 16 miles.

Olympian Brandi Chastain will hand out medals to the children participating.

Got a tip for Main Street? Send email to maryanncook@earthlink.net.

Got a tip for Main Street? Send email to maryanncook@earthlink.net.