Kitebuilder.com

[Progcraft]

G'day.
As most of you know, April is 'Inter'-National Kite month. http://www.nationalkitemonth.org/
So, check this out.
Rosebud, Alberta is starting a new play April 1st. W.O. Mitchell's play ''The Kite' They're even kicking it off with a kite festival. Giving away 100 kites!!

Rosebud is a town which is as big as it sounds. http://www.rosebudschoolofthearts.com/where.html

Wierd.


P.
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There is no box.

[gmakleppin]

This is an article I wrote for our area newsletters:

NATIONAL KITE MONTH

Remember, April is National Kite Month. For ideas and resources to promote awareness of both the historical importance of kites and of the joys of modern kiting, look at the National Kite Month website: http://www.nationalkitemonth.org This is also the place to register all Kite Month Activities planned, whether by a club or by an individual.

What are some of the ways to promote kiting? The one that first comes to mind for most people is to have a “Fun Fly” sometime during April.

However, there are numerous other ways to promote kites within the community. For instance, let me tell you what Jerry, Susie (Empress of the Universe) and I have done for the past several years, along with suggestions for others to display kites.

First of all, our local library had a large, high, open ceiling area crisscrossed by open pipes. Not a visually appealing area, to say the least! We had a large number of kites--purchased usually on impulse–that we seldom, if ever, flew any more. Three years ago, we put those kites up as a permanent display in that part of the library. Most libraries don’t have a similar area, but we have also taken kites to other libraries to display on walls or in entry areas.

Watch places you to on your daily business to see if you can discover someplace that will be enlivened by a showing of kites. For instance, when we saw the Hashimoto installation at the Tacoma Art Museum, we thought that it would be wonderful to put a display of big kites in their large, barren entry area (a thought that we still need to follow through on--someday).

A second type of display is one that we put up only during kite month. At that same library, we post a display board (like the kind used for science exhibits) that has pictures of kite and kiting events; lists of kite-related websites (I’d be glad to provide you with a copy of mine or use the one on the WKA website); lists of library books about kites; the schedule for the coming year’s kite events in the area; as well as resources we download from the National Kite Month website. You can include handouts for local, state, and national kite club membership and samples of publications from these clubs.

You can put up a similar display, with or without actual kites, nearly anywhere. Maybe you can find an unused bulletin board in a library, school, hospital, or other public place. One year we used a bulletin board at Madigan Army Medical Center. You don’t have to spend hours of your personal time getting together pictures and information. You can download pictures and event schedules from many of the websites belonging to kite clubs and/or kite shops and manufacturers.

For instance, for the past three years, we have put up an exhibit at our local Office Depot. Such wasted space with it’s high ceilings! Jerry can easily hang a dozen of our bigger kites there, without having to worry about winds or crossed strings. Jerry says it’s the only time he can decorate a sky without collision problems. It is fun for us because it represents the most kites we ever manage to get up at one time. We also put up a display board, similar to the one we put up at the library.

The nice thing about the science fair type of displays is that we leave them put together from year to year, so there is little to do except update the events calendar. Also, they are available in case we want to haul them out and use them at other times of the year. Obviously, for many of us, kiting (whether making or flying) is a year-around activity, even more so now that both Washington and Oregon have winter indoor kite events .

Won’t you please consider making your personal contribution to National Kite Month by doing something to personally make the presence of kiting know to your local community? If you find a good place for a display, and it is more work than you are up to personally, get together with other members of your local club and put up a display. The possibilities are limited only by the vivid, creative, generous imaginations that kiters have already proven they possess.