"Dazzling Days in Dayton"
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Dayton was a magical time for me, tempered by watching some of the not so good times for some of my friends. Such dichotomies. The brisk winds on Wednesday that helped "Morning Star Blessings" stick thumb tacked in the Ohio sky also caused a beautiful butterfly's wings to collapse. My magical moment Saturday night was followed by a distribution of trophies that did not end up in the hands of my favorite sport kite fliers. But I'm sure that Orville and Wilbur Wright had weeks like that too, and now, 100 years later, only their success is celebrated. So I'll follow their example and choose to remember Dayton as a great convention filled with good friends, great kites, and fine moments.

My flight out of Bismarck arrived in Dayton Sunday evening. It was just dumb luck on my part that had my arrival coincide with the arrival of the Champie contingent. They were kind enough to let me share their rental vehicle thus assuring my transportation for the week. "Thanks gang, it was a pleasure." We headed directly to the Hope Hotel and then looked for a grazing opportunity. Packy's seemed the logical choice since it was right on site. The margaritas were sweet and the hamburgers HUGE. How huge? Check out the photo. That is the "Touchdown". Four paddies high, and as the photos shows, not flat paddies at all (flat was saved for the Texas toast at the Bob Evans restaurant on Monday...who knew that an egg was a part of a BLT.) Sunday night was filled with important conversation and good moments. Monday was the pre-day of convention week and a good chance to spend time in the Air Museum. Too much to see and too little time. I forgot to take my camera but believe me when I say a trip to Dayton is well worth your time just to take in the museum alone. The reception Monday night was a wonderful event, even if I didn't win one of the little girl w/kite statues. It was a good time and good opportunity to greet old friends like Mike Shaw, Mary and John Gabby, Susan Shampo, Ron Despojado, and Betty and Don Murphy. It was fantastic spending the week flying with all those special people.

Tuesday began the workshops and mass ascensions. Also began a string of visits at Packy's for the breakfast buffet. Unfortunately for Deb's self-improvement program, I consumed more sausage and bacon in that one week than I had in the last three years. Time to bond with the treadmill again. Sigh. Tuesday was the Rokkaku and Fighter Kite mass ascension. Receiving a pin for the mass ascensions assured a full flying field and a chance to fly favorite kites. I got to play with my fighter prior to the comprehensive kitemaking competition for fighters on Thursday and it was great to see Brian's train of roks fly so solidly in the sky. Mike Shaw flew his nine foot Hopi war mask kite...always impressive. Tuesday did see a chance for more important conversation and more time spent in the museum. I was even able to pick up a box kite there to use in the cellular mass ascension. I've got to make a cellular someday. Went through the wing of the museum that had the example of the earliest forms of airplanes. The whole place was amazing. There was a night fly scheduled for Tuesday but I was just too tired to take it in. A quick dinner at Wendy's after a day of flying and then a good nights sleep. Besides, Wednesday was competition day.

Wednesday was the start of the comprehensive kitemaking competition and the masters sport kite competition. The wind was strong which was great for my hexstar train and noodle but not so great for my della porta. Mike Shaw's fantastic butterfly was at a disadvantage in the strong wind and broke a wing during the flying part of the bowed competition. Jose Sainz had beautiful entries as did John and Mary Gabby. It was a thrill for me to just share the field with those great kitemakers. I owe a special thank you to Don Murphy and Betty for helping me with my train prior to the competition. You guys are the best. The competition went pretty smoothly but it was truly a rush to manage back to back events. Getting the train launched and on the field in time was a good accomplishment. Little did I know that the judges would take a break just at that moment. Since the train was flying well, I chose to keep it in the sky during the break. That probably ended up being to my advantage since everyone got to see the train postage stamped in the sky with barely a bauble for over 45 minutes. The negative of spending a full day on the kitemaking judging field was that I missed getting to see Brian compete in Masters Individual Ballet. I really wanted to be on the side-lines cheering for him. Several of the California sport kite fliers (and one single-line flier from North Dakota) enjoyed a late dinner at a steak buffet restaurant so I was able to hear all about their respective competitions. I sure do like that group of people. It was a good day and night for sure.

 Thursday was the indoor fly and a chance to show my lack of skill when flying a fighter kite during the comprehensive kitemaking competition for fighter kites. But I competed anyway. Talk about stepping outside my comfort zone. lol  Thursday night was Chinese food with Brian, Miguel, Susan, Ron, Lam, John and Mary. Yum.  Terry Lee held a reception later that night for those kitemakers doing kites for the Billings, Montana Lewis and Clark exhibition. Thanks Terry for including me in this project.

Friday ended up being a cold, not so fun flying day. I had the thrill of being able to spot for the Avispados during their precision competition and that will always be a good memory for me. The wind raged fiercely from time to time, occasionally settled down to just a gale, and then kicked in and raged again. Tough conditions for pairs to try to fly in without benefit of vents or brakes. There were lots of kites in the sky for the free fly and made for a very pretty sky. Luckily the auction banquet that night was a fun event. OK, I'll confess to a little anxiety as "Rio" was offered as an auction item but a smuggled in bottle of port and kind words from a friend helped me survive the bidding ordeal. "Rio" found a very wonderful home with Teri Claycomb of Indiana. Shared lots of giggles with Susan, Ron, Lam, Sharon and Stafford and had fun all night long.

Saturday was the concluding day of the convention. Sunshine and warmer temperatures greeted the morning. Arrived on the flying field about noon and assembled my pyro for the delta mass ascension. Brian put his together as well and we were set for the twins to fly together again until his pyro tangled with a rok that was staked selfishly right near the edge of the mass ascension field. Oh well, I guess there will always be more important people in the world who need to have their needs met first. Brian and Miguel were kind enough to help me assemble my hex star train for the People's Choice fly. Thanks guys. Later that afternoon, I took the train into the museum to help add some color to the banquet facilities. After a suggestion to display them "in the booth, in the back, in the corner, in the dark" another panel was provided by the facility staff and I lined the train up along the bottom hoping they wouldn't be in anyone's way.  A quick trip back to the hotel to clean up, change clothes, (sure was fun to have a reason to wear the new jacket I had purchased while visiting Chinatown over the summer) and then back to the museum for the awards banquet.

Sharon, Ron, Arnold, Miguel, Nelson, Stafford, Brian and I shared a table at the awards banquet and settled in for good food and fun entertainment. When the awards for kitemaking began, I was fairly confident that the only trophy I might receive would be a second or third place trophy for my train. I was shocked when "Rio" was given the third place trophy in the flat kite category. Then was truly astounded when "Morning Star Blessings" earned me the first place train trophy. But the magic of the night was experienced when the makers of the 13 first place kites were asked to stand and the scores for those kites were shared, building up to the award for Grand National Champion. To stand in the company of Mary Gabby, Lam Hoac, Jose Sainz, Barb Meyer, Peter Dolphin, Jerry Houk, and others was the dream come true of a lifetime for me. Actually, I had never even dreamt that such a moment could ever be possible. As name after name was read and I continued to stand I felt so like Cinderella waiting for the clock to chime to return me to reality. I had to remind myself to breathe and then just calmed to embrace the total Zenness of it all. I sat down right before the tie was announced between Lam and Peter with Lam getting the nod as Grand National Champion. What an honor for my train to have earned the third highest score of the 99 kites competing in Dayton in 2003. The congratulatory hugs I received from Mary & John Gabby and Mike Shaw meant so much because, as my mentors, any success I achieve will always be equally shared with them. "Thank you my friends."  "Don and Betty, your friendship means the world to me." "Ron, Sandy, Jose, Sam, Jon, Steve, and so many others, thank you for your kind words and support." "Brian, thanks for putting up with your pesky shadow all week long. You are a great guy and good friend."    See you all in Seaside.

skydance@rtc.coop