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Balloon Magic

Balloon Magic image
Parent Issue
Day
7
Month
September
Year
1992
Copyright
Copyright Protected
Rights Held By
Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

Daryl Hurst,
owner of Party
Pizazz, turned
in his magic
wand after
twenty years
as a

professional
magician to
open a party
supply store
in Ann Arbor.
Hurst now
spends much
of his time
creating
sculptures
out of

balloons for
sale as party
decorationSt

NEWS PHOTO
MICHAEL CORICTT

BALLOON MAGIC

Ex-wiz3^ having iisra in new ciiiiB^nsion of party market

B ARINE 0'DONNELL»co e\ *? 1QQ9

kt" T 11 • Ivw

NEVVSartiLiAL WRITER W.' " '

Kay
i»nd

NEVVSartiL.iA

1*^"--" " ^llooning fr "
ven to fli;

sometimes they get carried away.

As owners of Party Pizazz at 1884 W. Stadium
Blvd., they "he fancy stuff - c
napkins, cama. Dinners - neederi f"
tion. What some people don't kn
that a good chunk of the Hursts' bu&me&a comes
from elaborate, sometimes loony, balloon
displays.

Take the Ninja turtle that Daiyl Hurst created
for the you*1'*?"" "f actor Jeff Daniels, who had
a birthday . mw back at the family's home in
Chelsea. Or the 7-foot replica of tl rsity of
Michigan's Victor's Club logo. L. u^ 15-foot
shamrock Hurst zapped to-
f^^r for the March 17

•ig of a new building in
Farmington Hills.

All three displays made
out of balloons, all made for
fun. "Fun's the key word,"
grins Daryl, a 38-year-old

-TMlJP^6 °^ ^nn ^)or wn0

'^"BBKarried his h^h school

sweetheart. liiere's too
much emphasis on lawyers
and doctors and serious-
ness. It's just as important
not is' ':.' " • ' •; ' *
ce. . ;..,ni,., ,i,.,.«v i,tt-
portant than a child's
birthday?"

Hurst used to be what
area children called The

Magic Man. From 1969 until 1989, he performed
as a master magician and owned The Magic
Shoppe in Maple Village. But when customers
started asking for balloo" ? as bal-
loon wizardry. About the "quests
took off 'ndKayfo rnselves looking
at highf mis They left iviapie Village for a big-
ger place on West Stadium and renamed their
business, deciding that along with balloons,
they'd sell party supplies.

A few of his secrets: Balloon figures, indeed
most balloon displays, are built from wire skele-
tons that bend like pipe cleaners. Hurst attaches
balloons using either knots or paperclips, adding
things like ribbons •••-" streamers as
needed. He smiles ar _ „ a boat recently
"for two iving birthdays. They're sailors."

Some displays, like the mural they did for a

RETAIL REPORT

Thetford Co. ceh' :T • •••"•- •* -•••'' i">:"-c •"" en-
quire hundreds o > i.'iii^ 5;^ . . ie
half a dozen' »do.

Hurst rerm'irtW "s a job order he got after the
'versity of Michigan won the Rose Bowl in
luBQ. He had to fill then-coach Bo Schem-
bechler's bedroom and bathroom with balloons
"In the brri'rrwm, we used air balloons on the
floor an n balloons on the ceiling," he
says. "The bathroom we filled completely.

Hurst says when Schembechler came home,
he couldn't believe his eyes. He's reported to
have said, "What the hell's this?" Then his son
Shemmy got dispatched with a nail-studded
stick. But it was the next day before Schem-

_________ bechler had his bathroom

————i--.^,

Hurst first started
in balloons, he sold single
ones, mostly the mylar kind.
He still sells plenty of those,
but lately has been doing

iy displays. "Peo-
t.ic are doing more theme
decoration. Lots of luaus
and Mexican parties these
days," he says.

Hurst also is seeing a
trend toward milestone
birthday parties. "First 40

Daryl Hurst put together a was the big party," he says.

Ninja turtle for th day "F1®" 30 ^ P0?^'then
»»-»»*», - - - i^ff r»^ ^1 f A,» 50 came on rea! fast, then
party - .rjeff Daniels' son. ^ ^ manufacturers are

making things for 70th

birthdays. It'll be 80 pretty soon. Society's grow-
ing older."

Balloon sellers like I n, .^ .idve been criticized
as e >olluters. But their trade
grou a i»oon Network, says the usual
' ' of natural rubber sap and small
iu..™.^ ui ,iu:» toxic coagulants and pigments,
making it "100 percent biodegradable."

Ironically, says Hurst, balloons are '• 1-- ^
save South American rain forests. Thou ?f
acres of rubber trees are the source of rubber
sap. Preserve the tree for rubber sap he says,
and it keeps putting out carbon dioxide.

Meanwhile, when the Hursts are in thp hack of
Party Pizazz dreaming »iays,
they've got a three-foot Muuiie Mouae balloon
guarding the front door. Open the door and she
leaps, red ribbon and all.