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| NewsThursday, August 23, 2007 6:49 PM CDT |
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Sky’s the limit for Pontiac with inaugural kite festival
PONTIAC — At the ending of the film “Mary Poppins,” George Banks realizes his family matters more than his recently lost job at the bank, and they go off to fly a kite. There may not be any song-and-dance numbers or flying nannies at the first-ever Pontiac Kite Festival, but organizers hope it will be full of family fun just the same. “I have heard a lot of people get excited about it as they see the various posters and fliers up through town,” said Ellie Alexander, Pontiac tourism director. “They say that this brings back memories of the fond times they had with their family when they were younger and flew kites.” The festival will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Pontiac Rec Plex, 2104 Old Airport Road. “I’m very excited about it, but I just hope this rain gets out of here so we can have a nice weekend,” she said. The festival will be free to the public, and Alexander said anyone is welcome to bring a kite and join in. If someone does not have a kite, a vendor from Chicago Kite will offers kites of various shapes and sizes with prices ranging from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. This is the first time for the event, but Alexander said she hopes it will become and annual one. This will not be simply a gathering of Pontiac citizens to an area to fly kites, she said. It also will be a venue where kite enthusiasts from all over Illinois will provide demonstrations and teach novices about the activity. Mike Kory, Illinois Kite Enthusiast Club president, said there will be many different events happening during the weekend. Kory also said flying a kite is one of the best ways to have fun with your family or find peace of mind. “(Flying a kite) can be a great stress reliever when you’re doing it by yourself, but the thing I like the most is the camaraderie that you have with other people,” Kory said. “This is a great family activity, and a lot of families in the club with kids of all ages enjoy it.” Kory said activities will include kites choreographed to music, a kite battle where the last kite in the air wins, a kite candy drop (similar to a piñata) and several huge kites as big as 100 feet long. He even said that there is one kite that stands 50 feet tall and will have to be attached to a dump truck to be flown properly. The weather forecast also is in the back of Kory’s mind, but he said the event will go on rain or shine. “In the Midwest, you never know what the weather is going to be like, and no offense to the weatherman, but they are often wrong,” he said. “If it rains it will probably be over in a few minutes so you can ignore the forecast and come out.” E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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