By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
Hoping to catch a little wind and take flight with some family fun, the Crawford Park District held a kite flying program Wednesday evening at Unger Park.
Hosted by Crawford Park District Naturalist Josh Dyer, the kite flying program began with a lesson in kite building using simple materials of dowel rods, a piece of plastic, markers, a ruler, scissors and ribbons. With the kite making materials spread out across the garage floor at Unger Park both parents and kids got to work on their craft of building a kite. Some opted not to make a kite, rather fly one that they had brought with them.
Dyer explained what inspired the Crawford Park District to hold their kite flying program.
“I don’t know how many people do it anymore, but we thought we would offer the opportunity to come and make a kite,” Dyer said. “We got some plans online of course, and some simple plans for people to get outside and enjoy a beautiful spring day.”
Once the kites were produced, the kite’s aviators took to the open space that Unger Park provides to test if their contraptions would fly.
Amy Irwin brought her kids Jenna and Gavin to the program. Amy reflected on what brought them out to the program.
“We thought it would be a really neat experience, and we really like a lot of the programs that they put on, and we thought we would try it,” Amy said.
Both Gavin and Jenna agreed that they had the most fun making the kites prior to attempting to fly them.
Gavin did point out one issue that plagued many of the kite flyers Wednesday.
“The wind wasn’t blowing very hard,” Gavin said.
While a few of the kites couldn’t quite get the lift for aerial maneuvers, other kites were able to sustain flight.
Photo gallery: Kite Flying