WORKING

Ellen McCarty

SHE IS

Handling helium and floating on cloud nine.

MAKING A SCENE

Sadler uses her analytical mind as a mortgage banker in Fountain Valley,

but when the 38-year-old newlywed wants to be an “airhead” for a bit, she

travels around the world directing balloon parades with her husband,

Greg.

Whether it’s a giant, erupting volcano surrounded by Hawaiian dancers at

the 1997 Pro Bowl, or a Christmas parade in Mexico City, the couple never

fails to make a scene, she said.

“It’s great to see happy faces,” she said. “No one ever criticizes you.

It’s just fun.”

The balloons, which stand as high as nine stories and cost up to $10,000

a day, are designed and produced by the Big Events staff, but it’s up to

Sadler to handle them once they’re set in motion.

“I’m the person who tells other people what to do,” she said.

Whether it’s raining, snowing or sunny, Sadler directs each parade from

beginning to end, shouting commands to volunteers as they anchor the

balloons with ropes.

“She isn’t afraid to take command,” Greg said. “It’s chaotic when she has

to direct about 30 people holding one balloon, but she’s a go-getter. She

just jumps in there and does it.”

PATCHING THINGS UP

Wind is always a challenge, Sadler said. Volunteers must constantly pull

down or ease up on their ropes to ensure that the balloon doesn’t fall

over or bump into trees and traffic lights. Freezing weather can also

reduce a balloon’s ability to float, as she discovered in Denver, when

falling snow weighed down their Christmas parade.

“When you’re out there doing it, so many things can go wrong,” she said.

“It’s stressful because you’re on a time crunch, but once it’s over, you

realize that any problems you encountered were actually pretty funny.”

At one parade, Sadler discovered a torn alligator balloon minutes before

showing off to thousands of eager spectators. “We patched it up quickly

and stepped out into the street, hoping it wouldn’t leak,” she said.

INFLATED EGO

The alligator survived the parade, and that’s just one reason it’s so

special to the Sadler family, she said.

The reptile recently made a debut in the film “Inspector Gadget,” during

a dream sequence -- a fitting destiny since the crocodile was once a

dream come true for Sadler’s son, Stefano.

Three years ago, when the then 5-year-old kindergartner brought a toy

crocodile to school for show-and-tell, his teacher told him to look out

the window. When he turned around, Stefano was shocked to see a 75-foot

alligator balloon, a mirror image of his own toy, taking up the entire

length of the playground. Apparently, his classmates were pretty

impressed.

“He was strutting around for days,” Greg said. “He thought he was so

cool.”

TYING THE KNOT

The couple just got married in May, but Sadler has been a part of Greg’s

life and company for half a decade, she said.

“Before friends introduced us,” Sadler said, “they always described Greg

as a guy with a really unique business. I thought, ‘uh-oh.’ ”

Greg proposed to Sadler while they were directing a parade for an

AirTouch commercial in Los Angeles.

The couple’s company has paraded balloons through Ireland, Germany,

Spain, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and even Moscow, where 15 balloons

featuring the Russian cartoon characters Piapachock (pig), Chebaruska

(mouse) and Guena (alligator) celebrated the city’s 800th birthday last

year. That’s all nice, Sadler said, but she dreams of directing a parade

in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she was born and raised until she

immigrated to the United States 29 years ago.

“My old friends would be so surprised,” she said. “And it would be a good

excuse to introduce Greg and my son to the culture.”