15th Annual Canal Days (2007)

Canal Days Night Fly

Canal Days 2007 was a great success! In the morning we had sunny skies and steady winds @9km from the East. Kiters gathered during the morning and a few finishing preparations were performed prior to 10:00 AM. There were some single line kites up when I arrived. I put up my Butterfly Kite, but gave it a short leash in order for some of the bigger kites to have some room. Shortly after 10, I was flying my Revolution Blast to attract some spectators. I was soon joined by 3 other Revs and a few dual lines. Bob started up some music and we all were flying, twirling, spinning and doing tricks. Just after 11 I gave way to some of the demos that were planned. We had Drew and Kerry flying Rev stacks (8 each), Ziggy flying a 2 line delta doing axles, back flips, turtles and wing stands, and an aerial ballet with 2 line prisms.

1:00 gave way to some clouds rolling in from the south bring a 45 minute break in wind, just when the large flowform "Wind Passion" was unpacked and with no wind...no launch. During this break we had the 'running of the bols', won by Michael Kort the defending champion. We also were treated to Miss Ohio and her unique kite flying ability. This year she flew a purple diamond. The wind picked up but not before doing a 180 shift. With the winds know coming off the lake we all adjusted our flying lines. 2:00 saw the grand ascension. There were a few technical difficulties with the music again this year. Jim and Barb Gibson had a train up for this. Boy, did they work hard to get that up! There were deltas, Revs, various animals, Japanese style kites and flowforms all flying for the ascension. We finally got some music and flew for about 20 minutes. Now that the wind was back, tickets were distributed to the children gathered at the edge of the flying field for the Parabear Squadron Teddy Bear Drop. The bears landed safely and 12 kites were given away to lucky children.

Now it was time for the Rokkaku battle. There were 7 kites on the field ready to battle. Bob gave the signal and the battle begun. After some intense fighting, Irving Reid's Rok from TKS was the last kite flying .

At 3:00, it was decided that there was enough wind to try to inflate "Wind Passion" again. This time there was and what a beautiful sight! Wind Passion is one of the Canada's largest kites.

As the day came to an end, the Barbque began. There were many hungry kiters from at least 7 clubs. After the burgers and salads were devoured, there were awards and prizes to give away.

Here are the winners:

There was a tie for kiter's choice, Don Brownridge's Trio of Diamonds (TKF) and Dennis & Arlene Ische's Circoflex (RSKC).

Gary & Michelle Mark's Scuba Diver won for Giant Kite Figure (TKF).

Wind Passion, owned by Kerry St. Dennis and Lucy Jonkman won for largest kite(RCFF).

The Most Unique Japanese Kite Award went to Doug Isherwood of TKF for his Suruga Kite.

Jim and Barbara Gibson from OSEK won for their kite trains.

Miss Ohio and Kerry Kucharenko (TKF) won the Feathered Flyer Award.

The Best Ground Display was given to Eric Curtiss and Anne Sloboda (SCKC) for their Tie Dyed Feathers.

As mentioned before, Irving Reid (TKF) won the Rok Battle and Michael Kort(GLKS) won the Running of the Bols.

Russell Wade (NWKA) won the prestigious "Biggest Tangle" award. (He was still determined to save all his string as we found him working at it Monday before the Kids 'n Kites event!)

Vince Baish (GLKS) was doing double duty as he entered a car in the car show and for this he won an award for that.

As for the door prizes, the beautiful "Four Feathers" hand crafted Rokkaku (by Eric and Anne from Boreal Kites) was won by Ted Shaw of GLKS.

A special gift from Dennis and Arlene Ische, which was a Roller Kite, was won by James Westhouse (NWKA)

15 other prizes were given away to lucky kiters from every club represented.

Monday proved to be windier than Sunday, about 50 kids came to the pavilion to assemble a sled kite between 1:00 and 2:30 pm. Several volunteers from the Club and some from the community came out to help the children put the lites together. The smiles of the kids flying their kites made the time and effort worth the drive from Stoney Creek.

Thanks to Vince Baish who sent me pictures of the night fly and the barbeque. Congratulations to all who attended and volunteered to make the 15th Annual Canal Days Kite Festival a success!