Hey,... Ed,.... I finished my Spike inflatable. The soccer ball shape windsock bounced around for a good part of the day. The kids loved diving underneath and getting squished by Spike every time he flew up and pounced back down!
| It's the 12th year for this fantastic kite event put on by Eric Curtis and Anne Sloboda. The event is held at the St Thomas Psych Hospital every year. It's the largest field of any kite event held in Ontario.
Hey,... Ed,.... I finished my Spike inflatable. The soccer ball shape windsock bounced around for a good part of the day. The kids loved diving underneath and getting squished by Spike every time he flew up and pounced back down! |
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Kerry St Dennis has become a real character. He likes to get his rev in real close and knock off hats or give you a gentle tap on the shoulder. I fixed his wagon! I grabbed the kite and attached two fat fish windsocks to slow him down. This sight generated quite a few laughs from the other kite flyers on the field. |
| Bill Peart is in the zone! Bill was so into performing tricks with his stunt kite that he did not notice me snapping a shot of his high flying form. Bill is so "Zen" and he appeared to have a "Dandi" time too! |  |
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Don Brownridge helped to fill the sky with his world traveled kite. It was fun to see so much national pride every where you turned. Red maple leafs were emblazed on many kites. Two windmills also sported maple leafs. |
| Dennis Ische just finished this huge great looking Delta. I am just guessing here but that Dennis just might be a Canadian. |  |
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Two of the four Windmills that made it to Strawberry Fields. Lucy Jonkman owns the Canadian themed one on the left and Don Brownridge owns the cool checkered one on the left. Is that another maple leaf on Lucy's windmill? No,... it's three! :-) |
| With the doom and gloom weather forecast for Sunday Dennis decided to bring his own sunshine. This great looking Rok was also recently completed by Dennis and Arlene. I remember just a few years ago when Dennis was making kites out of grocery bags. You have come a long way baby! BTW it never did rain. |  |
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I just had to try out the 380mm lens on my new digital camera. Eric was flying this beautiful kite at a very high altitude but I managed to bring it closer for your viewing pleasure. Eric and Anne, nobody would ever mistake one of those celtic themed kites with another kite builders design. They are truly unique artwork! |
| Ellen and her mom Karen wait for dad Irving Reid to get that kite aloft again. In the background you can just make out Kerry St Dennis and his Rev. Kerry are you still trying to get those fatfish off your Rev? |  |
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Jeff Donde told me he bought this great looking kite many years ago. The Rokkaku features a wood frame. Maybe we should look closer to see if it's really split Bamboo? :-) |
| This mass produced Ron Gibian Squid generated a few smiles! Irving walked up and exclaimed "It's Calamari". A spectator came up and asked me some pretty serious questions about how a kite with this kind of shape can even fly. |  |
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Every year several awards are given for various catagories. Lorne Elliott on the left won the "Stawberry Tart Award". Was it the Magnum P.I shirt that did it? We will never know as Anne will not share her judging criteria. Past winners include a shirtless Ziggy Racek. Don Brownridge is the one with the big hunger on the right. Don got the "I drove the furthest trophy". The VW bug on the top of the trophy is very fitting. I was fortunate to win the "Queen of Hearts" Peoples Choice award for the Spike. My daughter Sarah was so impressed with the trophy that she took it to school for show and tell! |
| I had to get in one more close up picture or Eric and Anne's artwork. These banners are full of great looking celtic knot work. I think that is "Magnum" in front posing for the camera again. All in all a great day of fun for all that attended. Thanks to Eric, Anne and the entire ground crew I saw running around at St Thomas. It takes a lot of help from many volunteers to make this event such a great success every year.
-Carlos Simoes |
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