For Gordon Bozarth, June 16 was a good day.
Then again, for the 57-year-old Vancouver resident, any day where he gets to ride the Goodyear blimp is a good day, something he’s done three or four times.
“To me, the blimp is America; it’s an icon,” he said. “You put together the blimp and the American flag, and there’s not a better day.”
The particular blimp Bozarth rode on June 16, nicknamed the “Spirit of America,” was making its final trip to the Northwest; it’s being retired after 13 years of service. When Bozarth found out the blimp was making a stop in Shelton to give rides to tire dealers, trucking fleets and original equipment customers, he started making calls to allow him to take his grandson, Carter Ziemer, 7, on the blimp.
“Over the years, I’ve taken my whole family up in the blimp,” Bozarth said. “Carter was the only person in the family who hadn’t gone up with me yet.”
Bozarth, who used to work at Goodyear, now owns Vancouver Tire & Auto Center and knows a few people at the company. He started working at Goodyear in 1987 on the sales team. When he found out the blimp was going to appear in the Northwest, he would often go to the events and act as the master of ceremonies on the ground, hyping people up before their rides.
“When I started working for Goodyear, I was very excited about everything,” he said. “It wasn’t just a career. I lived what I sold.”
That extended to his home life, as he started collecting Goodyear memorabilia, some blimp-related and some not. He acquired old advertisements from the 1940s, clothing items and flags. The most work he put into a piece of memorabilia was on his Chevrolet El Camino, which he and his employees at Vancouver Tire took apart, fixed up and put back together. They also painted it blue and yellow with the Goodyear logo. He purchased the car from a customer and fixed it up about five years ago.
His June 16 ride was pretty windy, so the blimp was attached to a mast to keep it in place. Because of that, Bozarth was allowed to park his car close to the blimp, where he could pose for pictures with his car, the blimp and the blimp’s crew.
“Since I’ve gone in a few times, a lot of the crew knows me,” he said. “They’re the ones who wanted me to drive my car near the blimp so we could take pictures. I’ve never been allowed to bring my car that close to the blimp, and on my last time on this blimp, I was allowed to. It just feels like something that was meant to be. That’s a picture that I’m going to have framed and displayed forever.”
It’s also something that Carter will remember.
“His eyes were so big the whole time,” Bozarth said. “He got to talk to the pilot through his headphones. I got an email from my daughter the next day that as soon as they got home, he started calling people and telling them about the ride.”
For Bozarth, combining his love for his family with his love of his career and the Goodyear blimp is not something he takes for granted.
“To be able to share all of it with my family is very humbling,” he said. “I might not be wealthy in terms of money, but I feel like I’m one of the richest guys in the world. My life has been priceless.”
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