Kite Flyer
March 2000 Issue Route 66 Kite
Club (R66KC)
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Kite Club Phoenix, AZ
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NEW Format Due To Our New Web site
Click Here To Go To Our New Web Site
Table Of Contents
(Just Click On The Left
Item Of Interest. It is recommended that all articles be read)
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Hot Buttons |
Descriptions
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Letter From The Director And AKA News |
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Quick Thoughts From The Editor |
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The Next Couple Of Weekends |
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What Happened The Last Couple Of Weekends |
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Long Term Dates And Plans |
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Other Items Of interest |
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Questions To The Club |
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Unanswered Questions From Before |
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HELP ME! |
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Notes From Our Very Own Kite And Banner Maker |
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Fun Stuff - Was “Inquiring Minds Want To Know” |
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Lost Puppies And Things For Sale |
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Cover My Ass Legal Ease |
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Please Help Yourselves |
Web Site Links
Reminder: I will be publishing anything and
everything that comes my way that relates to kites. If you wish to communicate
with me, and DO NOT want something
used in the Kite Flyer, please indicate what part of your E-mail is private.
Otherwise, everything is fair game. Send me something, come on, I dare
you! In any event, I could really use the help. R66KC@TMSquared.com.
Directors Editorial And AKA News
Excerpts From Ron Despojado
Our Region 12 Director’s Article:
In Arizona, activity has heated up with the Route 66 Kite Club now publishing an on-line newsletter. Some of the articles have been on local flying events and their ratings as far as wind, facilities, and number of fliers it can support. Rumor has it that living legend Ron Reich has been working with a few flyers from the local area and that an Experienced Class team may make appearance soon at a Southern California Sport Kite event.
An Additional
Excerpt:
As we look forward to a new
millennium, let us leave the 20th century behind and along with it
any excess baggage that is holding us back. That baggage may include grudges,
bickering, politics, and selfishness among other things. These are not Y2K
compliant. Cooperation and positive attitudes will transcend the ages, all we
have to do is try it. Remember kites, those colorful objects at the end of the
string in our hand?
Look up and smile
Ron Despojado
P.S. Hi friends,
This e-mail address (rdespo@ixpres.com)
will no longer be valid at the end of February. Please contact me at my current address: ron@despojado.com
See you online.
Ron
From
Our Director Billy (Mad Dog) Dines
Note: If you are not aware of the issues that this
letter will address, please go to the “Editor’s Note” first, for an overview.
Dear Jo Anne and Bryan,
I had to work a twelve-hour shift today so I am getting this rather late
in the day and I'm pretty tired.
I would like to offer myself to you and any AARF members that wish to
correspond with me over What appears to be a horrific problem between
friends. Hopefully, we will be able to
put this to rest as quickly as possible.
It appears that the gun issue that started all this is still and
issue. It is not an issue and hasn't
been an issue for months now. Tom
respects those person or persons' feelings about this issue and has addressed
it accordingly. It is now a
non-issue. The e-mail referencing the
kite shop rating system was just a response to a single e-mail from another
club member and was not meant to be
A public forum issue. As soon as I read this article I quashed it
and said that it was not appropriate for us to be rating kite shops. Everyone can make their own decisions about
their experiences with a particular kite shop.
As for my experience, it has always been positive and I feel you have
always gone out of your way on my behalf.
I can't speak for everyone, only for myself.
I got a call from Tom this afternoon at work and he offered up the bad
news that a scathing article had been written on the AARF site in response to
our Club and your Club not being able to have a working relationship on the
upcoming Anthem event. I know that
several attempts have been made to contact you in response to helping out at
the event and as to space arrangements for our Club and banners. We only wish to be of help. We do not wish to step on anyone's
toes. We will be there and we will be
willing to help in any way possible.
Perhaps we can help with the kite-making event or just help by teaching
anyone that wishes to learn how to fly-----to fly.
Personally, I am happy that you are coordinating the event. You and Bryan have a great deal of
experience in this realm. I have always
had a very positive experience at all the Tucson flys I have attended. You guys always put on a great show for us
who attend and for the public who may have never experienced what we share as a
hobby.
I received an e-mail from a concerned flyer in our Club who found out
that several people had gone to the Anthem to check out the flying
facilities. It really sounds like a
great place to fly with some real wind instead of the 2-3mph winds in Phoenix.
Apparently, only certain people were given this info. Perhaps it was freely placed on the AARF
site for all to view but not every flyer (including myself) reads the AARF site
regularly. In the future, it would be
greatly appreciated if you could correspond with me personally about such flys
and I will make sure it gets out to the rest of the membership in the
Club.
I wish to make a heartfelt plea to all our flyers to bring this situation
to a healthy conclusion. Please, put
these issues aside and strive for a bigger and better kiting experience for all
of us. Let's look at the bigger picture
and not the personality issues. None of
us wants to fly under tension and I know that those who take issue with other
persons should know that they are now non-issues and that all we want is to
just get back together as a group and do what we do best-------flying!! There will always be problems arising from
the mishandling of information or misinterpretations of what someone may or may
not have said to so-and-so. If these
issues were dealt with on a one to one basis or by informing a key person about
a problem, that key person could possibly resolve the issue before it became an
even greater problem. I will be that
key person for our Club and I will gladly work on issues between our Clubs and
our Club personalities with you and Bryan. Let's keep the lines of
communication open.
Happy flying for us all!! Bill
Dines, Director Route 66 Kite Club
For those of you that are unaware, and/or new to the club, there have
been some bad feelings between some of the old guard that let the Route 66 Kite
Cub fade away, and the new guard that has picked up the banner after two years
of inactivity. I would like to apologize to the membership for having to deal
with any of this and would hope that this be resolved and put behind us ALL as
soon as possible. I believe that communications is the key to resolving any conflict,
and would invite any of the old guard to post their own articles in this news
flier as long as it is in a positive, get this behind us, move on to the
future, vein. As always, articles from ANY member of the club, or interested
party, are welcome and will gladly be published.
Upcoming Flying Events
Note: All flying events will be from
12:00 noon through 4 or 5 p.m. unless otherwise posted.
Off Weekend Recommended Fly – 03/05/00 – Sunday: How about
the Shermanator Park. (See web site Kite Field Recommendations
for additional directions).
Shermanator Park (East Side) -
This was the "Chris Schermann Park" and can be located on the
southeast corner Miller Rd. and Roosevelt St. in Scottsdale. Miller runs north
and south, midway between Scottsdale and Hayden Roads, and Roosevelt is located
one-half mile south of McDowell Road. The park is just west of the Indian Bend
Wash/Park, which has been deemed unsuitable due to the wash that it was built
in. Parking can be found at the Yavapai
Elementary School just to the south of the field.
Rating: Good Restrooms: None
Kiters That Can Fly: 18 Drinking Fountains: None
Non-Kiter Visibility: Good Park Benches: None
Distance
To Amenities: 1 Mile Shade Available: Limited
Club Fly – 03/12/00 – Sunday: Will be at the Del Webb’s
Anthem.. (See web
site Kite Field
Recommendations for additional directions). Take I-17 North about five
miles from the Carefree Highway, way north of Phoenix. Exit at the Anthem Way
exit, then turn right and drive into the community.
Off Weekend Recommended Fly – 03/19/00 – Sunday: Will be at
the Original Hippie Park. (See web site Kite Field Recommendations
for additional directions).
Original Hippie Park (North Side)
- Was the "Jim Jennings Park", and can be located by going north on
I-17 to Bell Rd., west on Bell to 29th Ave., then south on 29th to Grandview,
and finally west again on Grandview for two blocks.
Rating: Great Restrooms: None
Kiters That Can Fly: 30 Drinking Fountains: None
Non-Kiter Visibility: Poor Park Benches: Yes
Distance
To Amenities: 1 Mile Shade Available: Lots
Club Fly – 03/26/00 – Sunday: Will be at the Chaparral Park,
(see web site Kite Field
Recommendations for additional directions). This park has been an old time favorite, and was recommended by the Jim
The Original Hippie Jennings, as a place with all amenities and lots of
interested people. So we will visit this park and add it to our rotation. It is
on Hayden and Chaparral. In the future, you will be able to find the park in
the Kite Recommendations section
Note: By popular demand and the desire
to socialize after a fly with a meal and possibly drinks, the club flying
events will be moving, periodically,
to SATURDAYS!!! Stay tuned as to when
this will start. Park selection will be
alternated so that no single group of individuals will have to drive a long way
all of the time.
Special
Note: Jane
and I have purposely bought three
indestructible Beetles for guests! Please
do not hesitate to ask for them when you have a guest attending our events.
Latest Fly Report
Off Weekend Recommended Fly Report For – 02/06/00 – Sunday:
Was at Riverview Park, (see web site Kite Field Recommendations for
directions). No fly report available.
Club Fly Report For – 02/12/00 – Saturday: Was at Plateau
Park, (see web site Kite
Field Recommendations for directions).
Well Mad Dog Billy Dines and the
Gadget Man staked it out for a wonderful day of flying. We set several single
liners out, and for the most part of the day, they just hung in space. Even the
big single liners that caught a lot of people’s eyes. Did I mention this park
has great visibility along with the best wind in the valley. I was able to get
the Spiked Bowls going for the first time due to the incredible wind. The kids
loved them and kept playing dodge the spikes as they rotated around while
hanging from the fence. What a gas! Bill and I were joined later by Jonathan
“Al-Habib The Tent Maker” Dellmar for some great flying and banner design
discussions. The order of the day was major wind so the heavy stunt kites were
out including a four line Rev Super Sonic. Wow what pull. Only these three
regulars were there, but about 15 non-fliers with kites joined in. And an
additional 20 awe inspired spectators. WOW again, what a great day.
Off Weekend Recommended Fly Report For – 02/13/00 – Sunday:
Was at Fountain Hills Park, (see web site Kite Field Recommendations
for directions). This was a reported Valentines day fly.
Hope this helps Tom.
Terrific Valentines Day Fly-in at Fountain Hills. About a dozen flyers
turned out from AFFF and Route66. Winds about 5-10 miles per hour allowing
flying everything from light wind deltas to Revolutions. Included were several
fighter kites, a Winddancer 1 and Prism Stylus 1.8 parafoil. Youngsters flying
a few single line kites as well.
Several dozen kites layed out, ready to fly.
In attendance: Dave & Kay, Hugh, Paul & wife, Robert, Ramon, Howard and his wife Maddy. Several
others who I did not recognize and was not introduced to.
Tom, the low point for me was busting several spars on my brand new
Ozone. The good news is someone let me fly a Winddancer and now I own one. What
a kick to fly. Working from memory. Next time, I'll be more observant.
By the way, We're heading for Mexico tomorrow (Sat.). Won't be back until
Sunday, 27th. Maddy and I will be attending the San Diego bash in May. We'll be
staying at a nearby campground in our motorhome. Let me know if there's I can
do to help. Same for the Anthem deal. Can't wait to hit the beach in Rocky
Point with all my kites.
Regards,
Howard
Off Weekend Recommended Fly Report For – 02/19/00 – Saturday:
Was the Original Hippie Park, (see web site Kite Field Recommendations
for directions). No reports available for this weekend.
Club Fly Report For – 02/27/00 – Sunday: Was at the Fountain
Hills Park, (see web site Kite
Field Recommendations for directions).
This fly was fantastic, with
about 18 of the regulars and about 30 spectators that were around the flying
area, and another 3000 across the lake watching from the Festival. This fly was
originally slatted for the Chaparral Park, but Chris “The Shermanator” Shermann
discovered the Fountain Hills festival and we moved it over there. What a
turnout. The winds were slow around noon, but finally picked up enough to put
several single liners up and keep them up. Jim “The Original Hippie” Jennings
had his square Indian motif single liner that proved to one and all that it can
fly right side up, or upside down, equally as well. Four line Rev’s, Wind
Dancers, and other parasail kites were dancing everywhere.
The Fountain was up to it’s usual
tricks, spewing everywhere, but didn’t touch us until the end.
The Shermanator was the first one
there and the last one to leave, and had the biggest smile on his face threw
the whole day. (Must be because he wasn’t doing honey-dews. <honey do this,
and honey do that-ha ha>). The ladies were out in force as well and when the
guys were not hogging the field, they were showing us how it should be done!
A lot of the new faces took our
business cards, and were pleased that we had a web site and e-amil so they
could join us in the future.
Well when all was done, and
everyone was totally exhausted, packed up, and mostly gone, and older couple
came up with a young fellow, and indicated that they had found a lost little
spectator who had been fascinated with the kites. He was about 6 years old, and
reportedly was running away from home. He had been stopped by the kites, and
spent several hours just watching us. Being tired himself he readily divulged
his phone number, which we promptly called, and the worried mother came right
over. She thanked the older couple and us for assisting this young adventurer,
and the day ended with a sunset that wouldn’t quit!
Hope to catch you all on the next
one!
Keep’em Fly’n,
Gadget Man Manson
(Special Note: We need to find more parks with an audience to introduce
more non-fliers to the sport. Some discussion at the last fly was made of
parks that might fit the bill. Please send in your recommendations ASAP
so that we can start trying them out. R66KC@TMSquared.com.)
Future Events
Sunshine Acres Children’s Home/Orphanage Charity Event –
Currently being worked on. And has yet to be determined. (How
can we work this into the National Kite Month?)
04/07-04/09/2000 - Kite Fest 2000 to benefit Homeward Bound. It will be at Del Webb's anthem this year,
and promises to be bigger and better than Kite Fest '99 was!!!! Lynn Trochelman
is on the planning committee again, and will be getting in touch with the local
flyboys and girls to recruit volunteers to help with a few things for this
year. Lynn will keep you posted as she gets more nailed down. Lynn can be
contacted at: flykites2@aol.com
05/12-05/14/2000 – Route 66 Kite
Club Fly With Our Sister Club the San Diego Kite Club (SDKC). Come and tryout some really great winds with
loads of fun for the whole family. Sea World, Old Down, Seaport Village,
Mission Bay, Mission beach, the ocean, shopping, and a myriad of other things
for the family to do. We will be joining the SDKC, (http://www.sdkc.net) at their Mission
Bay Park for a Sister club fly on Saturday, with a night fly on the beach
Saturday evening. A Saturday evening barbecue will be promoted as well. We
would like to have everyone stay at the same hotel if possible for easier
logistics. The “Beach Cottages” hotel is on Mission Boulevard (858) 483-7440
and right on the beach for everyone’s enjoyment with lots of shops and
restaurants within easy walking distance. The rooms run from $75-$85/night for
hotel rooms through $250/night for a two-bedroom cottage. Jane and I have a one-bedroom cottage that
we all can congregate at, so my recommendation is the cheaper rooms. Everyone should get their reservations in
early because this is a popular place. Hope to see you all there!
09/22-09/24/2000 – September
San Diego Sister Club in San Diego w/ the San Diego Kite Club Event. More
information to follow when available. See the 05/12/2000 event for lodging
information.
10/08/2000 – One Sky One World
(OSOW) Annual kite event for world piece. More to follow as information
becomes available.
Note: Any ideas for events, please
contact the Gadget Man at: R66KC@TMSquared.com.
Other News
Web Site Is
Now UP!!! The big news
is that we now have our Route 66 Kite Club web site up. It can be found under: www.tmsquared.com with it’s own pages
listed under www.tmsquared.com/R66KC.htm
(Please note that the R66KC.htm in the URL is capitalized.) We also have a new
e-mail address for the club as well: R66KC@TMSquared.com
You will find that a lot of what made this news letter bulky has now been moved
to the web site, with several new additions such as photos (that I have been
promising), and other hot links. Look for many new enhancements in the months to
come, and please take the time to review our charter, it should give you some
insight about what our club is about. The following just on of the reviews or
our new site:
WOW just plain WOW I like the new pages.
Phil;
Kite Fest
2000 Is Dead! Well for this year only. The club has just found
out that back in January when the powers that be, (we won’t go into who), were
approached with regards to having the Kite Fest at Del Webb’s Anthem, they
found that Anthem had a hole other idea about what kind of kiting event that
they wanted to have. Anthem wanted to only have a fun fly without any
competition. And when AKA was consulted, they indicated that without a
competition, a major kiting event could not be supported. So instead of
creating an Anthem Fun Kite Fly, AND locating another sponsor to have the Kite
Fest 2000, the handlers just dropped the Kite Fest 2000 and did not notify
anyone else about the problem. AKA and our Region 12 director were not even
notified, they are just finding out about this as well. So don’t feel bad that
we were left out of the loop. Only a hand full of people even knew about this
decision.
Many members have lamented about
not being informed about the loss, and have indicated that they have many
contacts, as do I, that would have loved to sponsor the Kite Fest 2000. But
alas, too late. Kite month is in four weeks, and all of the honored guests have
been booked by other events. Advertising would be to little too late as well.
So we will all make a note and ensure that this does not happen again next
year.
So the only remaining event is
and Anthem Fun Fly. There have been concerns about space availability since
Anthem is planning a major vendor frenzy, and the park is reportedly only of
medium size. To check this out, we will be going to the park on March 12th
to evaluate it for ourselves. Efforts are still being made to secure a spot for
the club at this event, but the information is being doled out a spoon full at
a time, and only when prodded. We will attempt to keep you all informed as the
information becomes available. (Hopefully before the event gets here.)
Our Region 12 Director, Ron Despojado
was invited at my expense just the same, so we will see if he can afford the
time to join us at this fun fly.
Architects
Want A Piece Of The Action! A local Architectural firm has
contacted the club and has requested design information for a fun socialization
activity. They plan on designing their own kites and will fly them at the end
of April. To this end we have pointed them to several kite design web sites,
(which can be found in Al-Habib The Tent Makers section of this newsletter).
Billy Mad Dog Dines, Al-Habib, and the Gadget man attended one of their Friday
after work gatherings and assembled numerous kites for their review. Mad Dog
was instrumental in giving some history and technical pointers on the designs,
and Al-Habib provided many hands on experience tips to building a kite with
insights on fabrics and shops etc. Watch for next month’s newsletter to find
out when and where they will be flying their designs, and we will try to
schedule a joint fly with them the following weekend. (If I can remember my
camera, duh, I will have some photo’s of their works.)
A New Park
Recommendation! From our newest member Howard The Huge.
Hi Tom,
The new city park at 48th St. and Ray Road looks to be a terrific site
for flying. I've been flying there for a few weeks now and when the wind is up,
it's great. The park is located at the Ray road exit on I-10, just west of the
exit behind K-mart.
It's flat and well over 100 acres. The park will easily accommodate 10 -
15 flyers even with several ball fields being used. The surface is grass
(pretty hard and brown now) and very flat. There are restrooms and drinking
water available and plenty of parking. A flag is always flying and is quite
visible from anywhere on the field. While the park is a pretty well kept
secret, we will have plenty of visibility from I-10 traffic as well as from a
kiddy playground on the north end of the park. On the northwest side, there is
a group of two story apartment buildings but well out of range of a general
northeast wind. At least 10 great restaurants are within walking distance of
the park including I-Hop, Native New Yorker (wings and brew), and all fast food
joints.
Also, after looking over the Feb. newsletter (outstanding, by the way)
here are other site characteristics:
Shade available: None
Park benches: None
Non-Kiter Visibility: Excellent
Distance to amenities: Two blocks
Directions to site: East on I-10 to Ray Road exit. West one block to
K-Mart/Foothills Car wash entrance. North two short blocks to park entrance.
I spoke to the manager of the park and she would be delighted to have us
fly any time. Let me know if you have questions or need further information.
Relative to the nick name, I'm O.K. with Howard the Huge for the time
being. Ultimately, I'd like to be called "Howard the Unbeatable" as a
result of hanging around with you guys and learning to fly right.
Regards,
Howard
AKA Registration Renewal Due
Believe it or not, it is time to renew your membership in the American
Kitefliers Association (AKA). We hope
you have found membership in the AKA beneficial and look forward to you being
with us in the future. The easiest way to renew is click on or access this web
site: http://www.aka.kite.org/mbr_app.html and follow the instructions.
At the web site, you can either renew your membership using a VISA or
MasterCard or download a membership application and mail it to us. (If you are
concerned about giving your credit card over the internet, read the page on
credit card number security and/or phone in your number.)
Your comments on the AKA are important to us. Feel free to add them to
your renewal or send them directly to us by replying to this email address: xd@aka.kite.org
Thanks again for being part of the AKA.
Mel Hickman
Executive Director
800-252-2550
Registration Renewal Timeframe
Selected For R66KC
It has been determined
that it would be too difficult to track and contact each one of you
individually, as to when your Club dues become due. Due to this, the May
timeframe has been selected as the date for club membership renewal dues. Also,
dues collected at any other time of year from new members will not be
pro-rated. Our intent is to keep the process simple, and keep the dues down to
$5.00/person/year, which is cheep compared to some clubs that charge as much as
$25.00/person/year. If anyone has any problems with this please contact me at
your earliest convenience.
R66KC Shirts will be purchased
soon.
I now, I now. I have been lax in handling this. I PROMISE to get on this
soon. Roman was unable to assist us so if any of you have additional contacts
for T-shirt printing, please sent them to me ASAP. Thanks, r66kc@tmsquare.com
It has been decided that a new batch of shirts will be purchased soon so
those club members will be able to get their very own Route 66 Kite Club
t-shirts. Due to the desire to drive down costs, and the numerous requests from
other kiters for shirts, we have decided to buy quantity of the same design,
and charge non-club members and additional $5.00 per shirt as a membership fee.
This will then bring them in as a member, and we will eventually have members all
over the world. Granted they will only be members for a year, and may not renew
their memberships, but we will have our Kite Flyer sent out to the world, which
will make kiters from everywhere aware of our club and our events. In addition,
this will drive down the cost of our shirts as a side benefit. I will keep you
all informed of when they will be purchased, and when they will be available. I
will round up the quantities of the orders based on the price breaks from the
following:
Blue Polo Style (about $25/ea)
XL 1 Dennis The Menace
1 Fly’n Hawaiian
Med. 1 Fly’n Ryan
Grey T-shirt (about $20/ea)
XXXL 4 Al-Habib
XL 1 Fly’n Hawaiian
1 Howard The Huge
Lrg. 1 Shermanator
1 Hugh
(maybe/maybe not)
Total of 11 shirts. We need at least 25 for a price break!
Important: If you
would like to identify yourself as a current OR future purchaser, please send
me an e-mail immediately. If you would like to get one later, for what ever
reason, please let me know, I will be glad to hold it for you until then. This
will help in keeping the cost down by ordering now.
New kiters are calling from all
over the country. Thanks to
our listing on the AKA web site, and in the AKA magazine, calls continue to
come in inquiring about out club and it’s activities. When you hear of anyone
interested in the club, please be sure to share our web site: www.tmsquared.com/R66KC.htm
(please note that the R66KC part of the web address is in capitals). Or the
clubs new e-mail address R66KC@TMSquared.com so that they
can be added to the distribution list for the club newsletter.
New Questions
Warning: We need responses to the following questions in a
timely manor, from all of the
membership. If we cannot get the needed responses, we may have to call an
actual meeting, eeeeeeuuuuuuuuwwwwwwwww.
:-(
No new questions at this time.
Old Questions That Still Need
Answering
The following Questions Need Answers From All Of You! Some of you have responded, but we need all of you to respond, at least with a minimal of info. Please Respond As Soon As Is Possible! Thanks R66KC@TMSquared.com.
No Old Question Remain.
Needed Input
1. Input for R66KC articles is always appreciated and always
needed. Please send all items for publication to Gadget Man Manson at: R66KC@TMSquared.com. Please
include R66KC in the subject of any E-mails. If you find any information relating
to kiting, even rumors, please forward them.
Information on new Arizona stores that have kites, places that have kite
building materials, new web sites, and especially humorous ideas for “Inquiring
Minds Want To Know”, etc., are all desperately needed. Anyone wishing to publish his or her own articles or
columns will gladly be accepted. Used kites that anyone wishes to sell will
also be published. Remember, it takes more than a couple of people to make a
club happen.
Al-Habib The Tent Maker
Our very own Jonathan (Al-Habib The Tent Maker) Dellmar, has made some fascinating finds in the areas of fabric etc. He has been experimenting with bag and handle making as well as a few banners and kites. This section is dedicated to any information that he can share with us regarding his finds during his quest in kite making. This sections will also list the items he is willing to make for club members. We must keep in mind that Al-Habib is not in the kite retail business and has graciously offered to extend his sewing talents in making a few things for our members at his cost. I would recommend, against Al-Habib’s wishes, that you consider his time, which he does not charge for, when paying him for his wares. Below are Al-Habib’s latest offerings:
Kite building sites recommended by Mel Hickman,
AKA Executive Director, and Ron Despojado our Region 12 Director.
http://www.sound.net/~buckchil/KKWeb/
http://www.kfs.org/kites