Chapter 44 (cont.)

 

END OF AN ERA

​Marquee for graduation weekend, 2005, courtesy of Stank, US '05. The Balloon would close for good about six months later, and be demolished the following year.Rumblings of the Balloon’s demise circulated for years -- maybe even a decade -- to the point were I think people dismissed it, “Yeah, yeah, yeah…it will never happen.” Then of course, the talk got more serious, and it became, “Uhhhh, how do we stop this?” Some dude even put up a website, SaveTheStoneBalloon.com! (Nope, wasn’t me.)

 

Originally, the Balloon was due to shut after the Spring '05 semester, but then was delayed until the end of that year. I’ve heard several people use the word “exhausting,” to describe the weekly guessing game of, “Is this the last Mug Night?”

 

Well, the last Mug Night turned out to be Thursday, December 15th, 2005 (read about it in the next chapter), and the final show was on December 17th…an invite-only thing, featuring The Snap and a reunion of Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers. (Tommy had been a Balloon fixture in the '80s, and one of the Philly region’s most popular acts.)

 

The Balloon’s day of destruction finally arrived on June 6th, 2006. That’s right, 666. My take? You can’t stop what can’t be stopped, but it’s a shame that such a unique venue is gone (not to mention its crowd capacity and energy), probably never again replicated in Newark, DE. You can never “go back” to college; your college experience is not just about the buildings, but about the people you were with, and the era you were there. However, in my years since I left UD, it was nice to return to Newark, stroll down Main Street, see the Balloon and simply say to myself, “There it is.” Now it’s, “That’s where it used to be.” Stone Balloon, R.I.P. We miss you.

 

​

 

Lost & Found

 

“I had a '97 Balloon mug, but I stashed it in the bushes next to Mellon Bank one night so I wouldn't have to drag it to Kate's. When I came back, it had up and vanished in that 'fart in a wind' manner. My second mug (a '98) was racked from some poor soul at Margherita's Pizza one night. I think someone left it there on that ledge by the door, and me being the drinking baron that I was (and still am), made sure it had a new home on Academy Street, along with my Buzz Lightyear dish set. What comes around, goes around!”

 

- Keith W, UD '98

 

Got Mucked, Big Time

 

“Yes I had ‘Balloon shoes’ with ‘Balloon muck’ covering them, but there was not another place like it. When you walked in there, you always knew your friends were in there somewhere…if not in the front, then in the back. It was a great place. My friends will always LOVE the memories we made there, especially the ones that we have a hard time remembering.”

 

- Christa, UD '96

 

Shattered Dreams

 

“I HAD a glass mug. One night, I was walking (or stumbling) back to Benny Street. Well, about thirty steps past the Balloon, I tripped and fell palms down, right on top of the mug. Of course, I smashed the mug to bits, but the worst part was that some of the glass got embedded into the palm of my right hand. To top it off, a few friends of mine were driving down the street and saw me trip! Since Main Street was one way, they couldn't get to me, so they had to circle the block. By the time they came back around they said I had disappeared.

 

I ended up walking home with bloody hands. Luckily, I had two very good friends who spent the next thirty minutes tweezing the glass out. I still have a few scars and every so often I can feel a small fragment under my skin. Coincidentally, this was just after they switched to the plastic mugs.”

 

 - Ariella, UD '99

 

Boobs, Butts & Beyond: “When you gotta go…”

 

“My buddies and I used to hang out at the back bar of the Balloon on Mug Night, all the way at the end of the club near the back entrance. Very open space and a great view of the stage, plus two bathrooms right next to the bar. The Men's rooms there were simply disgusting. If I recall there were 2 to 3 urinals, one stall with no door (as if anyone used it for Number Two!) and a sink.

 

Around 2001, the trend at the time for ladies were tight black pants (before yoga pants were invented) and tight mini-skirts (winning!) I remember on more than one occasion the bathroom lines being crazy long like usual, and two drunk chicks barging into the Men's room, hiking up their skirts and sitting right on the sink!

 

No shame in their game at all, not trying to hide their stuff whatsoever, right in front of all the dudes! Every guy in the room got a free show. I distinctly remember seeing a landing strip…it may have been pierced(?) I do believe there was a standing ovation given.”

 

-Mike S, UD ‘03

 

You Asked For It

 

“Do you see what happens when you throw me out of the Balloon for crowd surfing to Love Seed Mama Jump in 1993 at 12:45? You get torn down. Revenge is mine! Stone Balloon, R.I.P.”

 

- Brian FF, UD '94

 

Course Requirement

 

“Future UD undergrads, you'll never miss what you never knew...but there will always be a part of UD that is missing from your credits that leads to your college degree: Stone Balloon 101.”

 

- Gina, UD '95

 

Eulogy from a Delaware Girl

 

“Gone are the days of walking from Cleveland Ave to your doors, and a few hours later stumbling out into the mob on the street. Gone are the days of shoe repair shop Mondays to clean off the ‘Balloon sludge.’ Gone is the smell of beer, the mixing up of mugs, and the loss of hearing from dancing next to the speakers. Gone are the DJ requests, hanging out with the Balloon staff, and wearing a tank-top freezing your ass off waiting in line outside. Gone are the times you stood at the bar, knowing that at least one of your parents stood in that very same spot many years before.

 

Stone Balloon, we will all miss you. You were our $1 beers, our $2 rail drinks, our drunken brawls, our 21st birthdays, our random concerts, our Homecomings. You were our weekends...our Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Some of the drunkest and best nights we've ever spent. Stone Balloon, thanks for the memories.”

 

- Gretchen R, UD '00

 

​The Stone Balloon is demolished on June 6th, 2006 to make way for the Washington House condos. Courtesy of Shannon, UD '99