Kite Flyers with a Vision...

...and a Little Persuasion 

By Cathie Jung

Back in early September, while flying a fighter kite,

Dianne O'Brien had a vision. "Why don't we hold a workshop

and make some fighter kites!?" she exclaimed with

exuberance. Hmmm...I thought, why not? By the next time we met,

Dianne had drawn her vision of what the kite would look like;

a modern, but stately looking penguin. Ahhh....now all we had

 to do was find someone who knew something about building kites.

Well, the word went out, and (with a little persuasion),

Anthony Tung offered his expert building advice.

A prototype was built, and tested, and a date for the workshop was set.

Bob Koga, Cal Yuen, Dianne, Cathy and Anthony Tung

and I met early Sunday morning, enthusiastic to build our very own penguin.

With Tyvek, scissors, tape, paint and brushes in hand,

we followed our fearless leader's instructions and started creating.

A brief break for lunch and refreshments, and by 4:00, six stately penguins

had been produced. Ahhh...but would they fly?

We gathered at Garry Point Park on New Year's day for a test flight.

(That was my vision) Unfortunately, inclement winds and a deluge

of rain hindered their first flight...they were much too fragile for the weather.

So, we await the perfect day, when six stately penguins

are set loose in the wind. Perhaps we can persuade the

"Wind Gods" to cooperate, to see if our vision was a success...let's hope!