Colorful skies

Sleigh and Cutter planning team member Ken Borgmann estimates that between 3,000 and 4,000 people attended Sunday’s giant kite event on Clear Lake, with as many as 18 kites in the air at a time–accompanied by dozens of smaller, private kites brought or purchased by individuals.

With the cloudy sky and brisk winds, people tended not to stay for the entire five-hour event. 

Sean Beaver, owner and operator of Great American Kites out of Polo, MO, began setup for the 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. event around 9 a.m.  

The first kite in the sky was a large, but otherwise typical kite named “Kenny Seefar.” The kite’s name is a pun hinting at the question of how strong the winds are, and thus how high the kite can fly.

Within a few hours, “Kenny” was joined by astronauts, elaborately colored sculptured kites, and even Guy Fawkes. Eventually, Beaver was able to get a 100-foot long yellow whale into the air, but it took numerous attempts.

“We are confident we’ll have them back next year,” commented Borgmann. “We’ve gotten so much positive feedback that we’ve already spoken about Beaver’s return.”

The company’s kite collection includes some which require the weight of a fully loaded gravel truck to anchor them. On the lake, however, it was a relatively simple matter of planting stakes in the ice. As many as five or six kites in a line could be fastened to a single stake. Once launched, some kites require 20 or more minutes of work to bring back down.

Some minor difficulties did occur as the day proceeded. For one, the lake’s surface is so remarkably smooth that vehicles driving on it slipped around quite a bit.

For another, two helpers whom Beaver expected to join him for the show misunderstood their instructions and ended up reporting to Clear Lake, MN, north of Becker. “This is the hardest I’ve worked for a long time,” he commented as he and his son Joe worked to keep the many kites in the air.