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Lacie 4 President


smallkiter_06
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Lacie here!

I am running for president of the American Kiteflyers Association (AKA). If I am elected president some things I would change would include getting the youth involved more, which I would do by adding a 'for kids by kids' section to the AKA newsletter, and getting a youth president so that the voice of the youth was heard and took into consideration. I would also solve the problem of not having insurance for buggying and kite surfing, I would do this by making classes that you have to pass and get a license in order to do these things. Another thing I would do would be to get more kiting events in areas that don't currently have them.

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Apparently this is a joke (Lacie can't run a spell-checking program, Lord knows how poorly the AKA would be run).

I am still very confused about the punch line, though.

When I was in the third grade my mother was concerned about my abilities to spell correctly.

Miss Brown (teacher) responded with “ Scott will not have a problem with spelling, since he will have a secretary.” True story!

Spelling is only impodant too those whos kant done it.

Punch line? I never saw one!

Lacie as been a bright light in the SJKF communitie

Her enthusiasm and insight have inspired many people to take action.

And will in the future!

If you need a good Joke read the AKA election results.

Having been on the ballot tabulation committee for many years I can attest to the many serous ballots casted. Any thing from Mickey Mouse to a dead person voting for herself (BLH).

Whether you like it or not, Lacie has some great ideals and is the next generation of kiting.

It’s about time us old folks looked into the future and taught a child the joys of kiting.

After all, we will die sometime and they will be in charge.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello Fellow Kite Flyers!

It seems that my first posting was a little bit misunderstood. I hope that you will read this one and have a better understanding of what I am trying to do.

Let me begin by introducing myself. My name is Lacie Simmons and I am 12 years old. I have been flying kites for 9 years. I was an active member of the SJKF for 4 years before moving to Florida 3 years ago. I love to fly all types of kites. I also love to teach children about kites and kiting. For 6 years I have been involved with doing kids kite making workshops both in New Jersey and Florida. I consider myself a master sodi kite builder.

This year the South Jersey Kite Flyers brought me to the Wildwood International Kite Festival as a featured guest where I helped with the social on Friday night. I also worked with Glen Davidson and Paul Berard doing miniature kite workshops. I helped with the registration for the event itself as well as the auction and banquet. While there I realized that the youth of the kiting community needed a voice. That they needed to be taken seriously and have their ideas count. I came home and started a Lacie for President campaign. I knew that the AKA by-laws stated that a person must be 21 years of age to be president. Because of this I decided to try and run a write in campaign to make a point to the AKA executive committee that the young people count. We are the future and our ideas and views are important.

Since I started this campaign I have been working with Dave Gomberg to develop a special committee that would focus on the youth. He has been very helpful and encouraging. This committee would have the goal to voice the opinions, ideas, and views of the youth. I hope you will support me in this goal and look forward to your feedback.

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Hello again!

This past weekend after talkiing with my close family I realized that my "Lacie for President" campaign has gotten a little out of control. I have made a final dicision that I DO NOT want to run for President. I think that my time would be better spent forming a special "Youth Committe" within the AKA. I hope that those of you who are eligible to vote will vote for someone who is eligible and who you think will fulfill this position.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Good on you Lacie. You go for it and show these "old farts" (myself included) how to attract future generations of kiters.

Some of my fellow enthusiasts are very conservative (and boring). Are they more or less boring than the general population? I don't know but I speak to a lot of younger people who think that flying kites is a bit "nerdy" and boring. They worry about what their peers think and they don't want to be seen by their friends while flying a kite. There is a perception in the general community that kites are toys and are only for kids. Of course that is not our fault and is just a myth perpetuated by ignorance and the media. I sometimes do a self audit on my own degree of boringness (yes, I know there is no such word), especially when I go on and on about high altitude flying. My own children confessed that I often bore them nearly to death! My boringness is probably a function of me rather than kites I suspect.

We oldies in the kite flying community need a big kick in the backside. We need to wake up to the fact that our hobby/passion will die with us without passing on our knowledge and enthusiasm to the very young generation. We are unofficial holders of the baton. It's up to us to decide if we want our hobby to go on into the future. We need to change our mind sets if we want to attract young members. There is so much competition these days for the interest, time and money of young people. They have a huge number of activities and hobbies to choose from. There has been an explosion of leasure activities and, on any weekend, a young person can choose from dozens of exiting and stimulating hobbies. This was not the case 30 years ago.

In my Kite Society in Sydney, Australia, the average age of the club members is slowly but steadily increasing (around 47) and the member numbers are declining. The members seem insular and are not actively seeking new enthusiasts apart from a strong presence at one major festival on a public beach. There are still some enthusiasts who pass on kite building and flying skills to many hundreds of children. One of them is Michael Richards of KiteMagic in Coogee, Sydney, Australia. He runs over 20 school workshops a year and is one of the few people doing this in Australia. Apart from a few people like Michael, the other members act like it's a secret society and have a small clique of friends who enjoy flying together. It is hard to gain entry to the "inner circle".

Perhaps kiting is a little stronger in other parts of the world and may survive for a long time yet. The traditional kite countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are rapidly westernising and the festivals, kite flying and building skills may shrink and even die eventually.

So Lacie, I hope you keep up the good work. Well done.

Bob Moore

Australia

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I am a member of South Jersey Kite Flyers and I'd like to take a few to explain why Lacie uses "Master Sodi Kite Builder" in her signature. Lacie joined SJKF along with her parents about 9 years ago then moved to Florida about 3 years ago. Lacie is still a member of SJKF. When Lacie was about 5 years old she began doing kid's kitemaking workshops making paper Sode kites. Here's a link to a photo of her when she was about 6 with one of the kites. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/russmozier/d...jpg&.src=ph

Since she began she has helped kids make hundreds of these kites in workshops both in New Jersey and in Florida. The title "Master Sodi Kite Builder" was given her by Scott Spencer when she was about 6 years old.

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  • 1 year later...

About time the US had a sensible Female President :-)

I am not in the US but your posts make sense to me. Kiting NEEDS to enthuse the young.

If it didnt none of us old folk would have half the excuses to buy kites that we have at the moment. I have just got a friends son interested in Kiting. He now has 3 foils and is really enjoying it.

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About time the US had a sensible Female President :-)

I am not in the US but your posts make sense to me. Kiting NEEDS to enthuse the young.

yup

^^ i got a few playgroup frends intristed this year, man thay pick it up fast :o

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