Meadville, PA in June

If you are lucky enough to be in Meadville, PA in late May and early June, you won't want to miss the annual riot of color known as rhododendren season.

Greendale' Cemetery's rhododendron collection, which got its formal start back in 1875, was named one of the Cultural Landscape Foundatin's "Hero's of Horticulture" in 2007.

Entered through an elaborate gate at the top of Randolph Street, the non-profit, public cemetery known as Greendale was created as --and remains to this day -- both a public park and a burial ground.

The final resting place for more than 21,000 individuals, the park-like grounds cover more than 200 acres and has more than 1,000 bushes ready to spring into bloom in late May.

If you get off the main roads and on the back dirt roads you will find the most beautiful bushes, many 25-30 feet wide and 25-30 feet high. Also on the grounds are beautiful hiking trails winding through a massive ravine on the property. There's virgin timber, the trails are maintained, and the ravine is amazing.

Jim Vogan, superintendent since 1981, encouraged visitors to stop at the main office, open dawn to dusk, and get a map. He will tell you how to get on the trail and where it will take you.

He also has an offer that's hard to refuse: he will give you a personal tour. You can get a lot of history in an hour. The tours, by the way, are free.

Also in June, on Father's Day weekend is the annual Thurston Classic Hot Air Balloon Event which draws between 30,000 and 35,000 visitors.

This year 30 balloonist were present from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and South Carolina.

Thursday evening is the annual "Night Glow"> eight pilots and their balloons participated this year. The pilots use special burners called glow burners that produce a bright flame showing off the design of their balloon.

The balloons actually lift off early mornings and early evening. The skies over Meadville are filled with color for these few days.

Beginning to inflate Sunny Boy, which takes about an hour.

The 2008 Thurston Classic features an unusually shaped balloon - "Sunny Boy", a sun-shaped floater that is piloted by balloonmeister Bob Zanella,(77) a retired pharmacist from Ohio. He holds many awards and his most memorable moment was flying a 400,000 cu.ft. balloon in Kenya, West Africa. He has logged over 4000 hours in the air.

"Sunny Boy"