Tak Talks:
Greetings Alaskiters!
The Spring of 2011 is finally here. It's been a long, cold winter; especially since last summer was mostly cold and rainy.
I know most of you aren't as obsessed as I am and so most of your kites are stowed away in the upper reaches of your garage. Well... It's time to get them down, brush off the dust, and get them up in the air! For some of us it's time to try out the new items we've picked up over the winter.
In 1990, the "Farthest North Kite Fliers" took to the air. In 2003 they became the "Anchorage Alaskiters." The club never officially ended, but became fairly inactive as a club a while back. Pat Jensen, owner of Northwind Kites, continued with things like the July 4th "Kite Day" and promoting kite fun through her shop in the mall downtown.
When I decided to take the reins of the kite club in 2008, most people I talked to thought it would be nice to have an active club, but didn't think it would last long.
We started out with 8 members. Pat gave me permission to continue the club she had worked hard for in years past. After talking to the people who were interested, we decided to, generally, start from scratch. The name was changed slightly by making it simply "AlasKiters." We changed the logo and decided to make it as simple as possible.
As club president, I started promoting the club as hard as I could with fliers all around the state. In the first year, we had more than a hundred members... about twenty of whom are regularly active at our gatherings.
We have our monthly events planned for the year, and we hope to see everyone out:
April is National Kite Month. Often, here in Alaska, it's still chilly until May. We have decided to run our gatherings later in the month to help avoid problems like that, so our first official event is on Saturday April 23rd, with a regroup planned for Sunday the 24th in case the weather doesn't cooperate. We will be out at Cuddy Family Park. Hopefully we will have our new canopy (see below) to make us easier to find. Look for the AKA pole banner. As usually we'll have some type of food and soft drinks. This is a great time to renew your free annual membership, make a donation, or order your 2011 club T-shirts.
Cuddy Park is located in midtown Anchorage. It is on E 40th Ave between C st and Denali, behind the Lusac library. Click
HERE for a map.
On May 14th, we are having our 1st Annual Alaska Kite Festival. (To those who've been around a long time, we realize there have been kite festivals held before. This is a bit different for a couple reasons...) We are hoping that this will grow into something bigger than we are. It will be a yearly thing. This year, obviously, we are starting small. Hopefully, in the future, we can get more people involved in organizing and fundraising. Much thanks to Rusty's On Dahlia and Northwind Kites for sponsoring the event. The festival is in downtown Palmer this year. It's a limited space, so don't expect a lot of big kites up. The idea this year is to get as many people turned on to kites as possible in a new spot. Next year I hope to get the funds raised to have a bigger spot. It's all up to you members to make that happen. If the weather and wind is bad, we are regrouping on Sunday May 15th, so plan for both days just in case. Check out the EVENTS page for more info. Click
HERE to see the poster for the event.
On Saturday June 25th, we'll be having our 2nd Annual Midnite Kitefly. If you've been in Alaska in the summer, you know we have a major advantage over the solstice events in the lower 48... We're in the land of the midnight sun! We will be out at Cuddy Park from noon on Saturday until 1am on Sunday morning. Bring a wide range of kites for Anchorage's varying wind!
Obviously, on July 4th, we will be out at Delany Park Strip, downtown, for the annual Kite Day, as part of the Anchorage Independance Day celebration. Bring your kites or get a new one from the Northwind Kites tent.
Also in July, on the 24th, we'll have our monthly club gathering at Cuddy Park.
We will be at Cuddy Park for regular montly gatherings on August 20th, September 18th, and if the weather holds out, October 16th.
The Alaska State Fair is August 27th - September 5th. I'll try to be in contact with them again this year. The last two years have been fun there. If we get to do that again, I'm hoping to have a little more notice for the members interested.
Don't forget... Many of us are out every day, either at Cuddy Park or Delaney Park Strip putting color in the sky. Come join us!
As you can see, I've been busy making plans for the club. I'm trying to make it so that every year we have more events to work with. This brings up my next topic:
When the club regrouped in 2008, we decided to work on a donation basis as opposed to having a membership fee. We chose to do that because we knew there would be only a few people who would be willing to pay for doing something they could do for free.
The first couple years we did well on the donation side. Last year we didn't do so well.
With the onset of the Alaska Kite Festival, we will be needing more donations than ever. These things do cost money. Generally not a lot, but we are trying to make our events more fun and educational for the new fliers coming in. That is done by having kite making sessions and promotional items made.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!
Not only do we need donations from our members, we also need sponsors for our events. We need volunteers at every gathering. We could use a couple people who would do well at organizing for our events. Ask your employers, friends and local business owners if they would like to be club sponsors. Contact me if you're able to help in any way.
Thanks go out to all our members who have come out to make our gatherings as fun as they've been these last few years.
Tak Omega
The Big Tako (Get it?)
2009-2011 AlasKiters Club President
alaskiters@gmail.com
907-310-4276
