Shorewood Kite Fest a hit

Jim Taylor of Shorewood has flown kites as a hobby for 30 years. Sunday afternoon, Taylor packed up 20 of his kites and droved his pick-up to Cene’s Four Seasons Park in Shorewood to fly with fellow enthusiasts.

“This is good. It’s good to get people out and introduce them to the hobby,” Taylor said.

Taylor, along with over 100 others from Shorewood and surrounding communities, filled the park for the second Shorewood Kite Fest, sponsored by the Village of Shorewood. The village brings in Chicago Kite each year to showcase and fly its 70 to 100-foot kites for spectators as well as offer guidance on which types of kites to buy and how to properly fly a kite to those new to the experience.

Village of Shorewood recreation and events coordinator Luke Gundersen said the four-hour event was designed to “get people into our local parks, fly and kite and enjoy the outdoor space. Fresh air is important and here at the parks and recreation department, we want make sure people fill their time with recreational activities, not sitting at a computer or playing a video game.”

The perfect kite flying weather offer winds of approximately 8 miles per hour, according to kite hobbyist John Minnich, but with winds over 15 miles per hour Sunday afternoon, he said to teach a first timer how to fly a trick kite in the wind would be equivalent to teaching a new driver how to drive on the Eisenhower.

Minnich said trick kites were not as successful in the wind, but Chicago Kite had several kites anchored which lent a beautiful backdrop for kids, adults, and families to take kite flying into their own hands.

“This was very fun. My son Gabriel and I can never seem to fly our kites at home, these guys out here today gave us hints how to fly our kites,” Susan Smith of Shorewood said. “It’s neat to see all of the beautiful kites and see ours fly as well.”

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. the public was welcome to bring their own kites from home, or purchase a kite from Chicago Kite president Bob Zavell, who talked to each customer to find out their needs and wants when it came to a kite. He said the best shape for a kite was not the typical diamond, but a delta shape, due to its stability.

Half of the field in Cene’s Four Seasons Park was designated for the Chicago Kite flyers and the other half was for the public. Some chased their kites all over the grounds in hopes to get them up, while others found the perfect pocket of wind, anchored their kite and sat down on the grass to watch the kites fly.

“Watching kites is like watching a fire or water, it’s mesmerizing. We have had people camped out on the ground all day just sitting and watching the kites,” Zavell said.

Gundersen said his team hopes to grow the event similar to the kite event in Naperville, which was another one of Chicago Kite’s events.

“Cene’s Four Seasons Park is a 50-acre park and we want to emphasize the different recreational opportunities there. We are exploring new ideas to grow the event to the point of food vendors, but we need more participation,” Gundersen said.