First Annual Quad City Area Kite Festival
June 2007

We made it through our first kite festival with just some bumps and bruises and lots of lack of sleep.  As you can see by the title, "First Annual", you know that we are planning more to come.  I'm glad we have a year to recoup and regroup. ;-) 

Actually it wasn't that bad but the week leading up to it started out strange from the get go.  Our main business computer went belly up one week before the fest.  Then our backup laptop died 2 days later. The two replacements we bought both died and so for the 5 days leading up to the fest was not only finalizing everything for the fest but running for new computers and trying to get them setup for work. I’m surprised Rich wasn’t giving me funny looks over all of the computers going belly up around here. ;-)

Saturday morning at 4:30am we had some major storms go through, thunder, wind and lots of rain.  In some of the photos you’ll see mud and standing water on the field but people still came. The sky and wind were iffy until later in the afternoon on Saturday, then it started to get better.

The kite making workshop for the kids was a major hit.  When we were packing up Saturday night one die hard little flier still had their kite they had made that day in the air, until their Daddy said they had to go too. The kids candy drop was fun for all.  Even when Dan called for an adult candy drop, there were parents that could scramble pretty well for the candy too.

Sunday was a different story though.  It looked like it was going to be another repeat of Saturday with the clouds and so so wind but that quickly changed.  We had straight line winds hit and there was nothing we could do and no place to go.  Too bad since the people were already turning out and we thought it’d be a great day.  There had to of been at least 20 kid’s kites flying shortly after the fest started at 11.  Not only did the winds hit full force but the rain did too.  Finally there was a lull in the storm as we tried to regroup, that was short lived.  After the first major storm hit we were walking in water that covered our shoes totally.  Then more storms came and we called it a day.  Trying to just get the water off all of the show kites is something I don’t think I want to go through again.  The lull between the storms was so small that the show kites stayed sopping wet most of the day.  It’s hard to believe that a packed up 30# kite can weigh 100s of pounds when wet and there were 4 of them that got hit with rain.  You know you have lots of rain when ducks decide the water is deep enough that they can paddle in the puddles. Lol  Drowned rat gives new meaning to those words. ;-)

We’d like to thank all the people that gave a hand and support for our first fest:

Major thanks go to Dan Whitney for not only giving us encouragement on holding a fest but for shipping in all his show kites for the fest.  Dan comes to visit us twice a year, usually around June and then in Fall.  This year was a different type of visit from all the previous years and he’s already said he’s game to do the fest next June.  Brave man he is considering when the winds hit on Sunday he went for a major ride holding down Smooches.  Don’t worry Dan, the Fall vacation will be nice and tame compared to this last visit. Lol  Remind me to keep you and Rich separate so no more ideas are cooked up, I don’t think I’m up for it. ;-)

Tom, who gave up time off and hoofed the field and did anything that needed to be done, an all around good guy and helper.  He's great at draining standing water off the show kites, numerous times, and offering support in pouring down rain.  Glad you kept your sense of humor Tom.  I bet you won’t forget this experience for quite some time. ;-)  What kind of kite did you say you wanted for your next kite? Lol To our buddy Glenn who isn’t even a flier but came down and helped set the field up with Rich, Tom and Dan, very early in the morning.  You’re a good sport fella, the help was appreciated.  To Mark, who stuck around on Sunday in pouring down rain and helped us pack things in his truck so we wouldn’t have to make multiple trips in the lousy weather.

Jim and Marge for taking the time to make a 3.5 hour drive and for Marge taking pictures and for Jim taking the time to help anyone he saw that needed a hand flying, whether it was dual lines or single line kites.  Jim was always ready and willing to teach any new flier the ropes of flying, thank you so much.  Jim, we'd be pleased to fly with you anytime.  Oh, and sorry for pulling your kite out of the sky, that tail did it. ;-)  Kirk and Marla who came up from St. Louis for the fest.  They also stepped up and helped anyone that needed help flying, untangling lines or giving a 101 on dual line flying.  Both are semi new to flying and are crazy about the sport, real team players.  You both are great and we really appreciate all you did.  If it wasn’t for all of you, not as many people would have had the chance to learn the joy of flying.

Thanks go to Andy for making the long drive to do the kite making workshop and for bringing the supplies to do it.  There sure were a lot of happy little kids flying the kites that they had built themselves.  We look forward to working with you again next year Andy.  To Scott who did lots of the photos that you see here before he had to go into work for the day, the photos and effort are appreciated, considering I never took any photos at all.  He even braved the storms to get the storm photos that you see, thanks Scott.  Thanks to Dick and Sis who also traveled quite a distance to help make the fest more colorful, they have a beautiful array of kites for painting the sky.

Big thanks to the Boy Scouts, Lisa and the Scout’s parents that made the food for the fest and kept giving us soda on Saturday when it was so hot.  Lisa, you have a great group of young guys working with you.  I hope your canopy can be repaired easily.  During the straight line winds on Sunday their car port canopy flipped and came after me.  Pretty scary it was and after it stopped moving I had some Scouts running to see if I had been hurt, nope just bruised was all.  We will definitely have you back again next year, hopefully with better weather this time and no flying canopies allowed. ;-)

Thanks to the AKA for sanctioning the event, City of Davenport, Parks and Recreation and the Levee Commission for working with us on the event so we’d be able to have it on the River.

Last but not least, thank you to the customers we were finally able to meet and to all the people that attended the event and the smiles from the kids.  It makes it all worthwhile!

Rich & Lyn
Midwest Kites