Kite flying remains a happy occasion

Who were the first to take the injunction "Go fly a kite" seriously is unknown. Some credit Polynesians who attached fishing lines to kites and fished with them. Karen and Bob Ostrow of Stateline do that today in their winter home in New Zealand.

Some credit the Chinese with first flying kites. But no matter who was first, today kite flying remains a happy occasion. And it can be even more happy when you build the kite yourself.

Of course, there are all kinds of fancy designs out there in kite stores. But you can build a kite yourself or make it a family project with a handful of supplies. Such was the case for the Christensen family of Carson City. Alice, Lindsay and their son, Fred, turned up at the 4-H Family Kite Day at the Lampe Pavilion in Gardnerville last Saturday to take to the air. Another dozen or so people showed up, also aerial minded. The event was sponsored by the University of Nevada, Reno Cooperative Extension, which provided the materials as well as an instruction sheet in English and Spanish.

There to help the Christensens were Carson City residents Stan and Carol Mayr, both 30-year veterans of kite flying and building.

Using a picnic table Stan showed Fred how to stretch a plastic bag out and lay a cardboard pattern on it. Then Fred traced an outline of the kite on the plastic. The next step was to cut the kite out of the plastic and unfold it.

Next was adding plastic tape tabs at the top and bottom corners of the kite and punching holes in the tape. Adding the precut dowels to the corners gave the kites some shape, helped by some tape in the kite's center to hold them in place.

All this Fred did professionally, with just a little help from mom and dad.

Then tape was added to the side corners, holes punched and a 6-foot string bridle attached to the side holes. The center of the bridle is located and a loop added for the kite string. A small hole can be cut in the center of the kite when the winds are blustering.

And you're ready for takeoff.

By early afternoon kites were soaring against the backdrop of the Sierra Nevada.

"We enjoy kite flying and enjoy helping people get started," said Carol Mayr. "We used to get crowds of hundreds when we lived in Napa Valley and offered kite building outings."

When last seen, Fred was adding coloring to the drawing he had added to his kite of the Titanic. He paused to say, "It's fun, it's good," before returning to his drawing.