Everyone's flown a kite. Or at least tried. It is one of the fun things kids do when the weather is nice. And, for some adults, it's a passion.
Art Slaughter had an idea. The co-founder of FallFest has had many ideas over the years. This time, he wanted to have a kite flying day.
"I was talking about it to Annie Bergmann over at the Chamber (of Commerce), and she said: 'Art, do it!' So here we are."
Slaughter and his co-chairman Kevin Steinert have earmarked April 19 and April 26, from 2-4 p.m., as Kite Flying Days in Concordia. They will put on a kite flying demonstration at the north practice field across the street from Concordia Middle School (CMS). They will also teach safety protocols because, all kidding aside, flying certain types of kites can be somewhat dangerous.
At the shows, Steinert will fly a kite that requires a 200-pound test line and two people to operate it. "It can literally yank you off the ground, and you don't want to be hit by it," he said.
According to Steinert, the diamond-shaped kites we all flew as kids are probably the worst types of kites to fly. "Diamond kites are the worst; very unstable," he said. "If you're going to fly a kite, buy a triangle-shaped one."
When Steinert was a counselor at CMS, he helped form a kite flying club for the kids. He said that he flew kites as a kid, but he didn't begin flying "with knowledge" until the early 2000s. "There's a real science to it," he said.
Steinert encourages kids who come to the show not to bring their own kites. Again, safety protocols. "We don't want a bunch of people running around trying to fly unstable kites," he said. "There will be plenty of opportunity to fly our kites."
Steinert and Slaughter will have 12 different kites on display. One of them is a 13-foot Delta kite. "You have to fly these below 300 feet, or they will literally show up on radar, and that's not a good thing," said Steinert. "The one we'll be flying is called the Aztec, named after the Aztec Indians."
Another kite they will fly is a parafoil. "It's shaped like a modern parachute," Steinert said. "It's one of the kites that has enough lift to pull you off the ground."
They will also fly stunt kites, which are built more sturdily and designed to crash over and over again.
Slaughter and Steinert have put a lot of planning into the event. They just hope the weather cooperates. "If the wind is over 15 miles per hour we won't fly," Steinert said. "It's just too hard on the kites."
Kite Flying Days will be April 19 and April 26, from 2-4 p.m., at 1100 East Sixth Street, on the north practice field across the street from the Concordia Middle School.
