November December 2012

Transcription

1 November - December 2012 November December 2012 WKA a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people know how much fun it is to fly kites! For the latest news check our website: wka-kiteflyers.org Annual PROTEST THE BOWLS Kite Fly! January 1, 2013! I m hoping to see everyone on New Year s Day at our annual PROTEST THE BOWLS kite fly! and our Membership Coordinator; Sylvia Bernauer. Where? Golden Garden's Park in north Seattle. At the west end of N. 85th St., on the water. Come and meet our new President Butch Harviston We'll have LOTS of chili, hot dogs, and all kinds of other food! Hot cocoa, tea, sweets and lots of other left over Christmas food! And of course lots of kites!! See you all there! 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, (or whenever!) Reminder and photos from previous Protests submitted by Rick White Ed.note: don t forget the Polar Bear Swim

2 A Note from Jerry regarding kites and what can be done with them if your stock has grown out of proportion to your existing storage space - I made a mistake the other day: I got curious about the number of kites we own, and also about the number of kites we actually fly. I found a large difference between the numbers. This began to worry me a little. I tend to be a hoarder. Oh, not like the hoarder horror stories that make such interesting TV shows and let the rest of us say, See? I'm not as bad as they are. It's just that I find it very hard to let go of my kites. I have dozens which could be set out for bag raffles or donated somehow. But I find myself thinking how much I've enjoyed flying this or that kite and seeing the wear and tear of a much used kite and thinking No one would want such a worn out thing. As it actually happens, there are a lot of things we can do with our (Note: Not just me and my) still-loved-but no-longer-flown kites. For example, we kept a semi-permanent display in our local library, changing the display occasionally. When National Kite Month came around we expanded into other branch libraries. It took a little negotiating sometimes, but often the county library system would spread the word about us and we'd get requests for displays. Until the management of the local Office Depot changed hands we kept up to 15 kites hanging from the rafters. It was a large and airy place and the kite display was delightful. It was like having my own personal sky to decorate! We also kept a somewhat smaller display in a local grocery store and in a local bank. During National Kite Month we would add a posterboard display telling a bit about kite history and who to contact locally for more information. We got several new kiters as a result of the displays. But the best use of our used kites might well be to donate them to the Foster Grandparent's Fly at the Washington State International Kite Festival (WSIKF). Each child (pretty much regardless how old they are) is taken out onto the flying field by a Foster Grandparent. Foster Grandparents are adult volunteers with a knowledge of flying and a hope that teaching someone how to fly will help prevent disasters at WSIKF Mass Ascensions. Each fostered child is given a kite and taught how to put it together and take it apart and to fly it safely, while learning some of the rules of safe flying. Since the number of kids who show up has increased steadily over the years, so has the number of kites needed. The last two years saw over 300 kids fostered. And the Mass Ascension disaster rate has fallen as the number of kids has risen. So please consider donating your no-longer-flown kites to such a worthy purpose. Jerry Graham Special Message to Volunteers Sent: Wednesday, December 05, :47 PM Subject: Fruitland Elementary Science Fair The Fruitland Elementary Science Fair is scheduled for Thursday, January 10, from 6-8 pm. They have invited us back to make kites with the kids. This has been a very popular and well received event in the past. I need to put together a list of volunteers to man the stations for this time. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are able to help. Thank you! Bob Wendt PCKA President WKA Board Members President: Butch Harviston harviston.west@comcast.net Vice President: Casey Shearer Treasurer: Marianne Austin quillback@juno.com Secretary: Bonnie Ecker whrlwind@comcast.net Membership: Sylvia Bernauer dbrn1@earthlink.net Education: Ken Conrad ken@greatwinds.com Merchant Liaison OPEN Special Events Coordinators: Glenda Kleppin Jerry Graham gmakleppin@usa.net / jlgraham1@usa.net Safety Chairman: Scott Slater slkiters@wamail.net Products Coordinator: Rick White ssragtop@aol.com Youth Liaison: Kristian Slater kslater2011@gmail.com Webmaster: Morrie Williams mmawilliams@comcast.net Newsletter Editor: Marzlie Freeman marzlie@centurylink.net 2

3 Don t forget this event in mid-january 12th Annual Windless Kite Festival The 12th Annual Windless Kite Festival will be January 18, 19, and 20, 2013, in Long Beach Washington. Friday the 18th, gym opens at 4pm. Bring a flat kite or two to use for coloring the walls. Friday is all about setting up and having some free flying time. Saturday morning: gym will open at 8 am for more free flying time. At 11:00 is the first ever Open Individual Indoor Single line Competition! Judged with the same score sheet, rules, and format as the Unlimited event. An indoor competition just for the single line kites, followed by more free flying time. At 2:00 is the main event. The AKA Open Individual Indoor Unlimited Competition. Afterward more free flying time until 5:00 pm when we head to the Kite Museum for the Italian Potluck Dinner. There will be awards and a bag raffle. Bring that special raffle item, the funds raised go toward supporting the Museum. We will also get to meet and hear from the new museum executive director, Chelsea Libby. Sunday: gym opens at 8:00 for more free flying time. 11:00 will be the Indoor Hot Trick Shoot-out, immediately followed with some demos and the grand finale. After all that you'll get even more free flying time! Registration for the competition is $15 on site only. Location: Long Beach Elementary School Gymnasium S Washington Ave, Long Beach Friday January 18: 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. January 19 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. January a.m. - 3 p.m. Scott Davis NWSKL Annual Meeting Save the Date Seal Your Fate So You Won t Be Late NWSKL Annual meeting is Saturday March 2, 2013 Location: Summit Library th St. E. Tacoma, WA Do you have any specific topics you'd like more info on?? Any ideas for seminar speakers??? Questions about the new sport kite precision rules? Ways to make competitions more fun? Games we can play? How to get to the AKA National Convention in Seaside, OR in Oct 2013? Send ideas and questions to: Scott Davis, President scott@teamevidence.com More information to be flown out to you when the wind is better!! Lisa Root NWSKL Secretary The Grandmother Gene At Pacific Beach, Bary Crites asked how many months I had spent shopping for all of the kid stuff we d donated to the bag raffles there and at other festivals. I didn t get to explain to him it s just my Grandmother Gene, which has become dominant. I also automatically shop all year around for bargain stuff. It s a gene I inhered from my mother, who also shopped all year much of it by mail because bargain odds and ends stuff could not always be found in Rapid City, South Dakota (my hometown of 50 thousand the 2nd largest town in the state). She tended to order lots of strange things from Spencer Gifts still the place I look when I can t find things anywhere else, and from a greeting card company that also sold lots of other stuff. Even though most of the stuff in those magic packages brought by the post office was not for me, it was still a treasure hunt whenever the packages arrived crammed with stuff somebody, somewhere, would surely covet. The contents of these packages went into a box intended for gifts. Left off shopping for a birthday or other event until too late? No problem. Just go to the box, it would surely hold something appropriate including an appropriate card and wrapping paper. Worked well for her and as I discovered it also has worked for me. I learned I did not have to break the bank shopping all at once but could spread the spending out throughout the year happily checking out the Dollar Store; Target; and other stores which frequently have items for around $1. I don t have to have anybody or any occasion in particular in mind if it s a good deal, into the box(es) it goes! Now days, it s the only way that I can keep up with 8 grandkids; 3 of their spouses/so s; and 6 great-grandkids (7th due before you get this newsletter). Right now there is a gap between the youngest grandchild (14) and the oldest great-grandkid (7), so anything I gathered for that age group went into the bag raffles this year along with several brand new stuffed animals the fairy godmother gleaned out of the bags from Good Will. And that, Bary, is the back story of our bag-raffle donations Glenda Kleppin Awards During Kite Museum Night 2012 WSIKF This year, Miriam Schafler was awarded the honor of being chosen as WSIKF's Super Senior. This award was based, among many other things, on her ongoing efforts to spur on the Lady Kitefliers to put up child-friendly displays each year at WSIKF and the inspiration she gave me to begin the Foster Grandparent fly. Miriam will proudly wear the Super Senior happ'i coat made by Ellen Pardee, an original founder of the Lady Kitefliers. Ronda Brewer was awarded Top Kid on the Beach award. Can there be any doubt this dynamo is still a kid? She buzzes around the beach leading everything from the Kid's games to rok battles. Her enthusiasm for all things kite has inspired many kids (and adults) over the years. Ronda was given the Top Kid banner to fly for this year. The Spirit of Susie Award is given each year to an unsung hero, someone who just gives and gives and gives, selflessly and without any expectation of being rewarded for their efforts. This year, one person stood out in our minds--someone who has helped with my Kids' Day activities every single year since they began doing whatever I asked him to do and lots of things I did not think of asking for. He has definitely become my hero Launny Herriges. Glenda Kleppin 3

4 2012 PCKA / WKA Christmas Party Report The 2012 PCKA / WKA Christmas Party once again went over the top for fun, food and holiday spirit! Every table we could find was filled with people, food or raffle donations. I m not sure of the exact count but we had 13 tables originally set for 6 and had to add more chairs as people got settled for dinner. The food selections were endless (as usual) with turkey and ham provided by PCKA and WKA, side dishes and desserts brought by the fliers. It was impossible to try it all! Special thanks go to Heather Thomas and Al Fernandez for cooking the turkeys and to Glenda Kleppin for doing both hams. I have it on good authority the sauce on the ham included an extra dose of holiday spirits.. As usual we started the day at noon with our indoor fun fly. Dick Curran was #1 on the spot with the keys and his indoor (outdoor) kites. Scott Davis, new Region 10 Director for the AKA and also NWSKL President, brought his sound system to keep the holiday music going. Jerry Cannon flew early and then gave some lessons to new fliers before running home to get his bride. The crowd grew steadily throughout the afternoon. Al Fernandez brought Jenna, his grandniece (or Jenna here, flying her kite. Good to have the younger generation getting involved. whatever you call the daughter of a niece) who got right into the flying mode (and also did very well in the bag raffle later on). Don Ostey and Andy Sias (Ocean Shores Kites) had a couple of radio controlled aircraft which entertained the crowd during some of the flier rest breaks. Butch Harviston, the new WKA President, got busy recording the event with his camera. I think Rick White told him this was part of the job. Too many others to list took their turns on the floor trying all kinds of kites. Finally, at 5:00 pm, the kites were put away and the tables got set up. Many thanks to all of the guys who stepped up to help Dick chase down all of the tables from around the church for the bag raffle and serving tables. Many others got to work bringing out the round tables and setting them up for dinner seating. It went together in very short time. Alexa King and Willy Hendrickson got busy selling raffle tickets as everyone got their donations set up on the tables. We had so much good stuff to choose from the table crew had to scavenge the whole church for tables to hold it all. Promptly at 6:00 pm the serving lines opened for dinner. What a feast! Good friends and good food how can life get any better than that? As dinner wound down we started drawing the bag raffle winners and auctioning off a few special items. Besides the fun and friendship one of the goals of the party is to raise money for the holiday food bank and also the World Kite Museum. Each of the last three years we have exceeded the totals from the previous year with our fundraising efforts. This is a testimony to the generosity of the fliers in bringing their raffle donations and their willingness to turn their money into raffle tickets. THANK YOU ALL!!! This year $395 was sent to the World Kite Museum and $1445 went to the church and their food bank. Besides the fliers I want to extend special thanks to several businesses who have supported us with some very nice donations Revolution Kites, Prism Kites, Gomberg Kite Productions and Ocean Shores Kites. As it all wrapped up everyone again helped with the cleanup and returning the tables to their proper locations. Thank you again. We are on the schedule to do this again next year, Saturday, December 7, God Bless You All and I hope your new year is filled with health, happiness, blue skies and gentle breezes! Bob Wendt PCKA President 4 Richard Hurd flying two kites at the same time. Donna Wendt photos Getting the tickets ready to raffle!!

5 More from the party -Photos by Donna Wendt Alexa King and Butch Harviston Trading kite stories? Casey Shearer, Alexa King, waiting for a turn to fly? Sonia Turner with a lovely kite. Don Ostey s new airplane. James Babst and Jim Gates with Jim's leaf kite 5

6 Associated Oregon Kiters (AOK) Contact: Deb Cooley PO Box 25616, Portland OR Membership includes 5 issues per year newsletter Ben Franklin Kite Society (BFKS) Contact Larry Zilar or zilarlm@charter.net Lavender Winds Kite Club Brian Bradley KiteBear@aol.com meet 2nd Sunday, noon in Long Beach, WA Lilac City Wind Chasers (LCWC) Contact Bill Cox or cxbil@aol.com Starting in June meet first Sunday of the month in Sky Prairie Park, W. Strong Rd, just east of N Five Mile Rd, Spokane, WA Northwest Sport Kite League NWSKL) Contact Bud Hayes bud@thehayesplace.com Calendar at Peninsula Breeze Blenders Contact Bill Rogers or Lisa Ryan lisaryan@mail.com or billrogers@earthlink.net Meets 2nd Wednesday every month, Fire Station, Loxie Egan Blvd. Pierce County Kiteflyers Assn (PCKA) President: Bob Wendt Puyallup, WA 98374, (home) staff@pcka.info Calendar at Squalicum Kite Flyers (SKF) Contact Mike Button kite102@aol.com Fun fly every Wednesday & Sunday afternoons during daylight Kite Clubs savings time until sunset Zuanich Point Park, Squalicum Harbor. Bellingham WA Washington Kitefliers Assn. (WKA) Contact: Rick White ssragtop@aol.com Address on back page of newsletter Membership includes 5 issues per year newsletter Westport Windriders (WW) Contact Marla Miller kytpepl2@aol.com meets 4th Saturday every month at Grayland Beach, followed by potluck at Willapa Grange Hall Whidbey Island Kite Flyers (WIKF) Meets 3rd Saturday April - Oct at Fort Casey contact Lisa Root LRoot0208@aol.com American KitefliersAssociation (AKA) Contact Theresa Norelius - Regional Director region10@aka.kite.org Regional: region10 or British Columbia Kitefliers Assn (BCKA) PO Box W. Broadway Vancouver, BC Canada V6H 4E4 Membership: $20 (CDN) Includes quarterly newsletter The Joy of Sharing Your Love of a Hobby Mick Dahms had a showing of some of his kites and woodworking projects at Stonebridge memory care home. This picture was taken at their recent craft and hobby show there. Mick had a display put together with his kites and woodworking projects. He has been residing there since July. He still enjoys talking about his kites with the residents and caregivers. Lena Dahms The Newsletter of the Washington Kitefliers Association is published four times yearly. Subscriptions are part of membership in the WKA. The WKA Mailing Address is: Washington Kitefliers Association Pacific Science Center 200 2nd Ave N Seattle, WA Editor: Marzlie Freeman marzlie@centurylink.net Non-solicited articles are always encouraged. Notification is required if contribution is submitted to any other publication. Return of materials must be requested along with a stamped self-addressed envelope. Advertising rates and information sheets are available upon request. Accuracy of contents rests with the individual contributor, the WKA Newsletter being held harmless in the event of any error. The views presented in the WKA Newsletter are not necessarily the views of the editor, or the Washington Kitefliers Association. 6

7 A few photos snapped by Butch at the 2012 Holiday Party Notes from the Prez Bob Wendt and Georgean Curran enjoying the evening Jerry Graham Hi kite flyers I want to thank all the people who had a hand in planning or doing all the things which made the Holiday dinner with PCKA and WKA such fun. This year was my first time to attend. Boy! Was I missing out on the fun indoor flying and the good food all these years. Well, I know I will not miss out next year. Hope to see you there too. Maybe I will have better luck in that wonderful raffle. The weather this time of year makes it hard to think about flying kites. With the strong wind and rain and maybe a little snow it is just not the time to go outdoors to fly. So why not go indoors and fly kites. It is easy to learn and there are many helpful people to teach you how. Just watch the calendar for the next indoor fly. Are your sewing machines tuned up and ready? Have you sent in your registration forms yet? It is about time for the Oregon Kitemakers Retreat Jan and the Fort Worden Kitemakers Conference in March. There are way too many interesting kites to make. I always have difficulty choosing classes. Well, stay warm and dry. I hope to see you all on New Years Day at the Protest the Bowls Kite Fly at Golden Gardens. Decisions, decisions!! What bag shall I put my ticket in? Lots of choices. Butch MAKE KITES FLY KITES! Important news: At the holiday party Casey Shearer was asked, and he agreed, to be the WKA VP until we can have a formal vote at WSIKF Casey has already represented WKA at the November World Kite Museum meeting called by the new AKA president John Barresi. Congratulations and thanks are in order!! 7

8 Milton WA Indoor Kite Festival Friday Saturday, February 22-23, 2013 Faith Family Church 1702 Milton Way Milton, WA The Second Annual Milton Indoor Kite Festival, sponsored by Faith Family Church, the Pierce County Kitefliers Association and the Northwest Sport Kite League, offers a large variety of activities for interested people of all ages. Newcomers will have a chance to give indoor flying a try and have a lesson taught by some of the best fliers in the country. Kids can make their own kites compliments of the PCKA. Spectators will be entertained by demonstrations and competitions featuring Northwest and AKA national champions. The venue is beautiful with comfortable seats, full sound system and video monitors to help you enjoy the show. Food vendors, kite shops, workshops and more will make for a full featured experience with stuff for everyone. Bob Wendt A note here from Stephen Owen: here is the website for the kite fest as info comes out Travis Reedy The Team shown here flying is Flyform with John and TK Barresi and Spencer Watson Wayne Dowler with others enjoying free fly time Photos provided by Stephen Owen 8

9 Please donate small stuffed toys to the WSIKF Fairy Godmother Several years ago at WSIKF I was wandering around the beach after the Parade of Colors still wearing my fairy wings. Richard Dermer handed me several boxes of Harry Potter wands which had been donated. I had a glorious time giving them away to children. Even Marla Miller got in line for a wand, and somehow David Gomberg even got one and had the nerve to try to zap me with it! One little boy came back to Jerry very disappointed with his wand and wanting to exchange it. He d tried and tried to disappear his sister, it did not work, so he decided it was broken. Jerry managed (with great difficulty) to avoid laughing while cheerfully handing him a different wand. And so, the WSIKF Fairy Godmother came into being. Every year since then, I ve given away various items to kids after the Parade. The next year it was rubber duckies. I was shocked when somebody asked me what the significance of the duckies was. I told him it must mean that I like kids. Another year it was toys donated by local merchants. And then I discovered the bags of small stuffed animals Goodwill sells, and I ve been giving away animals ever since. I ve had a few helpers over the years, the most memorable being Marla Miller with devil horns, which seemed more appropriate than wings for her. This year, I decided to take on some apprentice Fairy Godmothers from among the younger set. Ryan King, who has been a faithful WSIKF attendee for many years joined me accompanied by her boyfriend. Her cousin, Chelsea Kern joined me, with a male cousin in tow. Scott Slater s beautiful niece, Lindsey Jones, was another volunteer. We were also accompanied by my faithful WSIKF shadow, Jacob Knight. As the girls were putting on wings, David Gomberg happened to wander by. 9 My girls went to work on him and he was soon wearing wings. We have the pictures to prove it! He said he hoped they would not end up on Facebook, but he never said a thing about not ending up in newsletters. Last year I had decided we really still needed to do more to involve kids in the WSIKF events, so I started taking kids from the audience out for the Parade of Color twirling small streamers (so they would not get tangled). That project was made easier this year, again, by the assistance of Mary Farrell. Whatever would we all do without her cheerful volunteering? My apprentices took to their new job with grace and decorum. Each child was given Mardi Gras beads and their streamer and herded out to the field. They danced and twirled and generally had a blast. Then, Dave Gomberg introduced the featured fliers and started talking about a key to the city, only to find out the city official in attendance did not have any keys to hand out. Chelsea promptly saved the day by running over and draping the featured fliers with beads. Such initiative! As the participants in the Parade left the field, my crew draped each of them with beads a tradition started by Jacob last year his very own idea. I m always excited when the kids make events more interesting. Then, back to the truck to grab our goody bags of stuffed animals over 200 of them this year. Some of the kids, who were disappointed to have missed out on the Teddy Bear event, were glad to discover other animals were looking for new owners. I was tired by then, so mostly sat around and watched my apprentices do most of the work of distributing their gifts. Being the Fairy Godmother is really the best job at WSIKF, and I m more than willing to share! If you would like to help out with the Fairy Godmother gig, either by donating small stuffed animals or by joining in giving them out, please feel free to contact me. I have lots and lots of fairy wings to loan and even a new devil costume, just in case someone does not feel they are suited for wings. And be sure to look for the frog who will be joining me in I m sure he will be growing up eventually to be a handsome prince. Glenda Kleppin

10 More photos from the Holiday party by Georgean Curran Getting the tickets ready, stamping or hand writing on each one Checking to see what s on the raffle table, hmmmmmm. Setting out the food yumm!! Fill up the plates Friends enjoying the camaraderie of eating together 10

11 Washington Kitefliers Association An affiliate of the American Kitefliers Association Join the WKA & share the fun! Benefits include our quarterly newsletter, a membership card which entitles you to a 10% discount on kite related items at participating kite stores, entry to members-only drawing for a scholarship to the annual 3-day Fort Worden Kitemakers Conference, & information about special events in the Northwest kiting community. Membership per household in U.S. is $15.00/year, outside U.S. $20.00/year. Fill out application, return it with a check or money order payable in US funds to WKA. MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Mail to: Washington Kitefliers Assn Name Spouse Membership Director Pacific Science Center Address 200 2nd Ave N Seattle WA Visit us on the Web at City/State/Zip Phone Names of Other Household Members (Include different last names): Calendar of Events For more calendar information: Jan 1 Annual Protest the Bowls see page 1 details Jan Oregon Kitemakers Retreat 20th Anniversary Rockaway Beach, Oregon Jan th Annual Windless Kite Festival Long Beach WA see page 3 Feb nd Annual Milton Indoor Kite Festival Details Page 8 this issue Mar st Annual Ft Worden Kitemakers Conference Fort Worden State Park Port Townsend WA Sept Whidbey Isl. Kite Festival&Sportkite Competition Camp Casey, Whidbey Island, WA Additional calendar information at the WKA website. There is a wealth of information, past and present and even future! Please drop us a line if you have events that need to be revised or added to the calendar. Then we all will be in the know! Editor s Notes - Christmas is just around the corner and the New Year is almost here. Hopefully we will have a wonderful 2013 year together in our kiting world. I know I really enjoy my kiting family members and it is good to get together every once in a while. Seeing all the photos from the holiday party makes me wish I did not live so far away. I am glad too the weather was reasonable again this year for travel to the party. It is good there was such a great turnout. Next up are windless festivals, kite making workshops and eventually before you know it, the summer kiting season will be here. I would like you to think about submissions for the next newsletter. Please let me hear from you by the end of February. Send articles, photos, kite plans, or whatever you wish to share with your friends in kiting. It would be fun to share a recipe or two, something of your favorites when coming home from the flying field and quick to prepare and you are starving what do you do? See you out there somewhere, some time Marzlie 303 Sid Snyder Drive 11

12 WASHINGTON KITEFLIERS ASSOCIATION Affiliate of the American Kitefliers Association PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER 200 2ND AVE N SEATTLE WA Printed Material Newsletter The last page photo The kites shown here are just a small portion of the kites Anne Huston made for the kids day at WSIKF They are the results of a labor of love and the love of making and flying kites. It is a wonderful way of sharing the joy of kiting with youngsters and maybe they may be making kites one day too. And she has already started on next year s kites. Photo by Jerry Graham 12