Kite Lines - Vol.1 No. 2 - KiteLife

News From Here & There(Continued)Kite Tournament was held March 20 atZilker Park with over 200 entrants .Richard Robertson took a first place forthe Most Unusual Kite with his 100-foot centipede . My "Chinese" Armadillobrought a respectable second .In anticipation of our 50th event nextyear, I am compiling photographic andhistorical documents of kite activitiesin Austin . I hope it will develop into acommemorative booklet .Another measure of kite interest inAustin has been the numerous requestsfrom school teachers, scout and othergroups for information and demonstrations. I know Dick has been respondingto many of these also . I have had adisplay of kites in our public libraryand am currently teaching a class inkite building and flying in the AustinCommunity Schools .WASHINGTONDouglas Underwood writes to us fromWhitman College in Walla Walla, WA,where he persuaded Rev . Joseph Leeand his wife Alice to come and showthe students how to make Snow Goosekites . Interest in kites had previouslybeen aroused on the campus by a visitfrom the Lees in 1972 . In one Januaryafternoon and following morning,about 10 Snow Goose kites were constructed. After making the intricatefabric kites, the participants, Dougsaid, "came to appreciate the time andskill which go into their construction,to say nothing of their design in thefirst place ."usual question of "How much?" wasasked . The stock answer came back atthem : "Oh, probably $1 .50 worth ofmaterial -Tyvek,' Sears plastic dropcloth,tape, glue and dowels . Figureyour time at seven bucks an hour andit would be $100, heh, heh, heh ."A quiet voice from the rear : "I'llgive you a hundred bucks for that ."A quick swivel of the head reveals askid-row pan-handler type - meat-axeface, missing teeth .Then the banter begins : "Well, youknow, I'm kinda attached to this kite,winner of the 1973 Most Beautifulevent in the Seafair contest, picturedin March, 1974, Sunset magazine, andall that ."Comes the unmistakable sound ofcrisp currency. Another neck-crackingswivel of the head reveals two fiftybuckbills aimed straight at the flier .A loud, "Take it, yuh dummy!" fromJohn Dusenberry sews up the deal withan exchange of kite and reel for twopictures of General Grant .March 26 and 27 were a big weekendfor the Washington Kitefliers Associationat the Pacific Science Center inSeattle . Their third annual exhibitionand workshop drew 4360 visitors . Theycame to view over 200 kites on displayand to pick up kite "kits" (materialand directions for garbage-bag sleds)at 25¢ each . Six hundred of these weresold . The Center added more than $900extra for the favorable draw theycreated for the Center (based on halfthe admission receipts that wereover the average for a weekend thesame month the previous year) . Theexecutive committee of W .K .A . apportionedsome of this to the librarysystem for books on kiting . The outstandingsuccess of the occasion wasattributed to several factors : goodpublicity, appropriate weather andtiming, growing kite interest generally,Imitation snow geese (kites) in real snow .The Washington Kitefliers Associationmet on January 18 and elected newofficers : Bill Lee, President, and KenConrad, Secretary. The group is planning- to incorporate .At a club fly on January 30 at GoldenGardens Park in Seattle, Jack Van Gilderwas flying one of his favorite Thunderbirdkites, and, as Jack tells it :There was the usual exchangebetween flier and onlookers and theWashington Kitefliers Association Kite Show in March at the Pacific Science Center, Seattle,WA . A few of the kites : center top, John Dusenberry's 30-delta train ; swooping diagonally leftto right, Mr. J .C . Young's Chinese centipede ; just left of center and above centipede, JimCarnwath's 20-foot airplane kite . Slides and movies were shown in an adjacent room .