|
| Editor/Publisher |
| John Barresi |
|
| Editor at Large |
| David Hathaway |
|
| Assistant Editor |
| Dave Shattuck |
|
| Directors-at-Large |
Troy Gunn
Central USA |
Terry Cornell
Southeast USA |
|
| Contributors: |
| David Gomberg |
| Meg Robinson-Albers |
| Corey Jensen |
| Ron Gibian |
| Lalo Loescher |
| Gustavo Di Si |
| Katy Shultz |
| Amy Doran |
| John Chilese |
| Stephanie Booth |
| Paul De Bakker |
| Donna McCown |
| Dave Bradley |
| Glen Day |
| Sam Foertmeyer |
| Joan H. Laurino |
| Ali Fujino |
| Roger Chewning |
| Bea Pelton |
| Cale Benson |
| Kirk Alan Patzlaff |
|
| Founder |
Mike Gillard
1954-2006 |
|
|
|
You know, I had this great long intro all mapped out in my head regarding how nice it is that Spring has finally arrived and then I spent a weekend down in Lincoln City for their annual indoor kite festival and woke up to snow, slush, hail, rain and COLD nearly every day and that kind of has me wishing that Spring would actually arrive at some point soon. And, I know this weather hasn't been solely in the Pacific Northwest either. |
| But, that being said, there are flowers blooming here and next week's advance forecasts suggests that just maybe, Spring will actually arrive and the the weather will warm up. On that note, Sunday morning I woke up and checked various news web sites, only to find the 42nd Annual Smithsonian Kite Festival, held on the plaza by the Washington Monument had made the front page of CNN.com's website. How cool is THAT? Nothing beats a little widescale exposure for our sport, and as it was happening at the same time as a cherry blossom festival, thats surely a sign of Spring too, much like when Daylight savings arrived and suddenly we had a bit more daylight every day. |
| And with that sort of clumsy segue on my part, if you attended the Smithsonian Festival (or for that matter, any festival that you may go to in the coming months, we'd love to hear about from you and in turn we'll run it as a credited article so even more people can hear about it. While John is certainly making a valiant effort to have us fly at every single festival in the known universe over the next year, we can't make them all, however, people love reading about them and sometimes, the reports can lead to more people coming out the next year for the festival. We witnessed this with South Padre Island's festival this winter, with a few people deciding "Hey, that sounds like a fun winter trip..." For further information regarding what we're looking for with an article submission, check the "Join The Team" section below. |
| This issue (April 2008) also marks 10 YEARS of Kitelife since it's inception in April of 1998, a hefty milestone indeed... Now that I'm wrapping up my third issue at the helm, I'm certainly feeling somewhat more comfortable with the process and hopefully, those of you who read the magazine are as well. That being said, I'm always open to suggestions, comments, kudos or criticisms, so if you have anything you'd like to share with me, you can reach me easily at
. New ideas for stories? Columns? I'm all ears, just let me know. And thanks for reading! |
| And finally, take a look in our store too, we've added a few more designs that are printable on a huge amount of items, you can undoubtedly find something either for yourself or someone else to help add some kite related color into their lives. |
|
|
|
AKA Corner
A look at some of the benefits of joining the American Kite Association beyond simply supporting the organization. |
|
Dave's World
Dave takes us all the way to Kuwait, where the 3 largest kites in the world end up being quite a handful to deal with in the sands. |
|
Drachen : Kites in Oaxaca
Be a Part of Living Kite History as the Drachen Foundation heads to Mexico for the Day of the Dead Celebration next October. |
|
KiteChi with The Coreylama
Corey muses on competition in kiting, as well as some simple ideas to help change and motivate the kiting community at large. |
|
Join The Team!
Our staff here at Kitelife extends a heartfelt invitation to share your experiences, your insights, your knowledge, and delight in kiting. |
|
REVisions: Clinics and more!
A monkey talks about clinics past and coming up, birthday parties around the world and a few good rev tips as well. A mix of topics! |
|
A Valentine's Story
Katy Shultz shares a really touching story about how she fell in love with a kite flying addict one sunny afternoon in North Carolina. |
|
Indoor Revolution Trains
Most of us have enough issues flying 1 Rev indoors but, Gustavo shows us how to make a train of them and fly them! |
|
Laughs 'n' Kites
Joan H. Laurino spins a couple of stories that will remind us that kites are indeed a lot of fun and a bunch of laughs. |
|
Featured Store: High Mountain Kites
We'll be visiting with one of our retail sponsors each issue, getting a little insight into their store, owners, managers, and their specialties. |
|
Festival Layang-Layang
A large and colorful group heads to Pasir Gudang, Malaysia for an Asian kite festival and Meg Robinson-Albers tells us all about it. |
|
Windless Indoor Kite Festival
Geezer checks in with a long running indoor festival held annually in Long Beach, Washington, no matter what the weather. |
|
Up The River Kite Festival
Located just east of Portland, this Arlington, Oregon indoor kite fest is into it's fourth year. See what you are missing! |
|
Kite Party 6
It's back down to beautiful Huntington beach California for the sixth edition of the West Coast's premier winter festival. |
|
Uttarayan Festival
Many of have seen the invitations to travel to India for festivals, here's a story from someone who made the trip. |
|
West Coast Rev Clinic
What do you get when you combine 3 days, 31 student rev pilots, 6 iQuad members, a few policemen and a dedicated Rev party? |
|
Owls and Dragons
Sam Foertmeyer tells us about a unique event put on through a grant from the Drachen Foundation at Temple University. |
|
Montana Snow Rodeo
Some kite flyers manage to take full advantage of the winter weather, with our first article on a snow rodeo. |
|
Festival/Comp Schedules
Looking for an event? You can find full schedules and contact information for events all over the country on the web sites listed here. |
|
Great Lakes Kite Festival
The 1st outdoor Midwest kite festival of the year promises to be an even bigger event this year. Come see what's happening in Grand Haven. |
|
Return to The 'Wood
23 years running and strong, the Wildwood festival remains one of the premier East Coast events to attend, no matter what you fly. |
Photo Collections
(added since last issue) |
|
|
 |
