Small Kite Events

by Gary Crenshaw
(Hampton, GA, USA)

I try to attend every event within driving distance that has anything at all to do with kite flying. Recently I went to a local kite fly at a nearby county park about an hours drive from home.

As usual I loaded up my car and utility trailer with every style kite you can imagine. When I arrived there were about twenty five or thirty people with kites in the sky. Mostly what I was seeing was department store type and some homemade looking kites.

I pulled out a four dollar Wal-Mart kite and joined the crowd. After anchoring my kite I walked around with a plastic bag with duct tape, plastic ribbon, a pair of scissors and a roll of kite string. As I come up on kites that were having issues or just wouldn't fly at all, I helped them making small adjustments and in some cases MAJOR adjustments until every kite took to the sky.

My wife asked me why I have not gotten out some of my big kites and I told her the timing just wasn't right yet. As long as the field was full of kids enjoying their kites I will do nothing to distract that glory from them.

After a couple of hours all the Kite Awards were given out for Biggest Kite, Highest Kite, Best Homemade Kite and other awards. With the day winding down, now the time is right. I put up a sixteen foot homemade delta kite on 200 pound Dacron line and anchored it at about 1000 feet high. Then I let kids take turns holding onto the line and letting the kite pick them up off the ground while I closely monitored and kept if safe for them to do so.

This is where you might say A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL. Lets face it, most of us really dedicated kite fliers could go to most any local kite event and take first prize for all categories but that aint what its about.

There's not many things more impressive than large single line and state of the art stunt kites in action, but for a kid that has been dragging his airplane kite around the house all week waiting for the upcoming kite flying event, that's where it's at, let him have that FIRST.