THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2019 // 7
Continued from Page 4
IF YOU GO
She saw it on the face
of her son Connor, who
took up the sport as a way
to cope with epilepsy. He
advanced to the top 12 on
the 2010 season of “Amer-
ica’s Got Talent,” thanks
to a four-line kite. Now,
Doran is excited when-
ever she see others wear-
ing a similar expression of
captivation.
“It’s pure joy,” she said.
The Windless Kite Fes-
tival features two days of
indoor competition, per-
formances, demonstra-
tions and other activities
that take place at the Long
Beach Elementary School
gymnasium. No fans are
used to mimic wind. The
kites swoop and glide in
the air, propelled by the
mere movement of the
flyer.
Windless Kite Festival
When: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 26, and
8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sun-
day, Jan. 27
Where: Long Beach
Elementary School Gym-
nasium, Washington and
Fourth St. South, Long
Beach, Wash.
Cost: Admission is do-
nation-based; proceeds
go to the World Kite
Museum.
For more information:
Visit the Windless Kite
Festival Long Beach
Facebook page, or call
the World Kite Museum
at 360-642-4020.
new people,” Doran said.
Benefits all around
The kiting community
The event is open to
kite-flyers of any skill
level. Creating a light-
weight kite capable of fly-
ing indoors is as simple
and cost-efficient as putting
together dowels and a gar-
bage bag with scotch tape.
“You don’t have to go
spend hundreds of dol-
lars on a kite to go out and
have a good time,” said
Jane Holeman, who sits
on the museum’s board of
directors.
In fact, at 9 a.m. Sat-
urday, King will lead a
workshop on making gar-
bage bag kites. The work-
shop, which is limited to
25 participants, costs $5
per person. Proceeds go to
the World Kite Museum,
the event’s main sponsor.
In King’s view, the work-
shop gives people an idea
of what they are capable
of creating and the priv-
ilege of using a kite they
designed themselves.
“That’s when you see
a whole bunch of ‘kite
smiles’ on those new fly-
ers,” she said.
Performances will start
Don Ostey
Jerry Cannon approaches indoor kite-flying with flair at a past Windless Kite Festival in Long Beach, Wash. The annual two-day
event features workshops, demonstrations, competitions and other kite-flying fun.
Amy Doran/Submitted by ConnorDoran.com
Doug Isherwood
Don Ostey
Connor Doran performs indoor kite-flying at a school
in Milwaukie. He has been flying for about 10 years and
competed on the 2010 season of “America’s Got Talent” with
a four-line kite.
Glenn Davison is the featured
performer at this year’s
Windless Kite Festival in Long
Beach, Wash. He also will be
leading a workshop on how
to create miniature kites.
Amy Doran dresses as
Charlie Chaplain to perform
an indoor kite-flying routine
at the Windless Kite Festival
in Long Beach, Wash. She
has been flying for about 15
years and helps organize and
run the festival, sponsored
by The World Kite Museum
and The Kite Shoppe.
Saturday afternoon and
continue Sunday. New
England kite artist and edu-
cator Glenn Davison is the
featured flyer. Davison will
also host a workshop on
designing miniature kites,
small enough to fit in the
palm of a hand.
Four years ago, Doran
introduced a Pro/Am event
designed to get new peo-
ple involved in the activ-
ity, or “build up” the kit-
ing community. Newbies
who sign up for the Pro/
Am Saturday morning will
be paired with a profes-
sional. They get a desig-
nated time to practice their
routine together on Sun-
day. Novices can be of any
age and the routines are
built around their abilities.
If they don’t own a kite, the
festival provides one.
“It works very well,
because we are bringing in
The competitions are
divided by various skill
levels, as well as types
of kite, to accommo-
date a wide range of fly-
ers. Through two of the
classes, competitors can
qualify for the 2019 Amer-
ican Kite Association
grand championships in
Seaside.
The organizers often
don’t know who will
compete until the day of
the event, but competi-
tors come from across the
Pacific Northwest and even
out of the country. Hole-
man described the judging
criteria as similar to that
of ice-skating. Competi-
tors have “compulsory fig-
ures they have to do, but
they can work their rou-
tines around those,” she
said. Otherwise, routines
can involve a variety of
costumes, music and addi-
tional special effects, like
lights, to the delight of the
spectators.
“There are benefits all
around,” Doran said. “You
don’t have to necessarily
be flying to feel the bene-
fits of the flying. It’s a per-
formance art.” CW