July 4th
Lighthouse Kite Fly 2004
Point Arena, California
It was such an honor to again be given the
opportunity to decorate the sky at this magical location. Jeff Gales,
Lighthouse manager and Brian Champie, AKA Region 11 Director made all of us
flyers feel so very welcome and appreciated. Actually, we were treated like
kings and queens at what has become one of my most favorite places on earth. So
much of my life is lived in a landlocked existence that the magic of the Point
Arena Lighthouse location is a dream come true for me. Thanks Brian and Jeff for
letting me be a part of your fantastic party.
Kitefliers
began gathering at the Lighthouse on Friday, July 2nd. The sun was shining and
the breeze silky smooth so barely were hellos said before the sky started coming
to life. Dave Hoggan and his family already had kites in the sky when Brian and
I arrived. Bryan Blattel showed up shortly after us and concentrated his early
efforts on putting banners up along the road leading to the lighthouse. Sharon
Champie, Gordon Anderson, Jim Strealy, Rob Farmer, Dave Sabbatino, and Dan
Whitney were among the other flyers that made the festival a huge
success. The wind was so sweet Friday, that some of the kites were left aloft to
fly all night long. Unfortunately a big wind
arrived about midnight making for a very exciting pitch dark rescue mission.
Luckily all kites survived unscathed and waited safely on the ground for the
morning sun.
Saturday,
July 3rd, began breezy and stayed breezy all day long. Fliers were treated to a
sausage and biscuit breakfast (thanks Brian and Sharon) and were well fortified
for a full day of flying. It was a good day for hexes and 150 foot dragons. The inflatables were stressed a tad and a poor stake placement by a newbie big kite
flier (me) resulted in one breakaway 125 flowform. Thank goodness the flying
field is huge and the
125 had room to settle safely to the ground. Visitors to the lighthouse (entry
fee was waived if they said they were there to see
the kites) came and went in record numbers. Lighthouse volunteers worked the
crowd selling raffle tickets for the kite donated for the event. Brian's
550 lorded over the field for most of the day and watched regally as more and
more kites filled the sky. One of Brian's infamous smoked turkeys filled our
tummies at the end of the day and then several us hiked up the lighthouse
steps for special front row seats for the Point Arena
fireworks display. A great day for sure.
July 4th, Sunday, arrived with sunshine
and a light breeze. Then it got foggy, then the wind died, then the wind
switched, then the wind died, and then it switched again. Moving kites and
stakes became the order of the day. It was made more frustrating by the number
of visitors that were onsite. Being a very classy group of kitefliers, the need
to put on a show for the crowd kept everyone working exceeding hard. During the
lulls, visitors were able to walk among the kites on the ground and were treated
to up-close and personal descriptions of what they were seeing. Dan and Brian
work a crowd better than anyone I know. And even though it was disappointing to
not provide the kind of show we all
had hoped for, at the end of the day we all felt it was a job well done. Those
flyers smart enough to choose to stay in the free
spectacular lodging Sunday night, had a blast being entertained by Gordon's
firework expertise. Somewhere there is a picture of a gun powdered darken hand,
but that is another story. A bit of prairie fireworks ended the outdoor
festivities and we all retired for a bit of drink and storytelling.
The
festival closed with a few kites taking to the sky on Monday,
July 5 in an effort to dry
them out prior to being bagged. Jeff let us know that $450 had been made on the
raffle and that 2000 spectators a day visited the lighthouse, far exceeding the
previous high attendance of 500. He invited us all back next year and mentioned
having all four houses available for members of the
kiting community willing to make the trip. Please consider me there already.
Brian puts together a great party and anyone who missed this one missed one of
the best. Don't make that mistake next year. See you at the Point Arena
Lighthouse in 2005.