Last weekend’s Great Mississippi River Balloon Race is a huge event for our community.

The event provides an enormous boost in business for a number of businesses in the area, from hotels and restaurants to gas stations and gift shops.

But all of that activity and commerce requires an enormous effort on the part of a small army of volunteers.

Each year, the balloon race committee selects someone among its ranks that embodies the spirit of the late Dr. David Steckler, whose enormous civic impact is still being felt in the area years after he died.

The balloon race committee’s 2016 Spirit of Steckler Award winner is like many of the winners — and the namesake for the award — all of whom effectively shrug off praise for their volunteer efforts because they simply enjoy what they do.

It’s not a labor of love, they say, it’s just a love for the cause.

This year’s winner, Chris Trippe, is like so many of the others through the years who volunteer of their time and talents for an event that impacts literally thousands of visitors and locals alike.

We applaud Trippe on his honor and say, “Thank you,” to Trippe and to all the other volunteers who make the balloon race get off the ground each year.