Recreation plans at Clinton Lake up in the air for Kite Festival

The sun was out, the clouds had cleared, and the wind was rippling the waves at Clinton Lake Saturday afternoon as Sean Beaver prepared to fasten himself into the harness connected to his large, wing-shaped kite.

“It’s time to go to surfing,” Beaver said, heading toward the water.

Minutes later his kite was pulling him through, and eventually on top of, the waves as he stood on a board similar to a small surfboard. A couple of other people – “kite boarders,” as they often are called – soon followed Beaver’s example and took to the water.

In addition to the other “kite boarders” who followed Beaver’s lead, there were kites of all styles, colors and sizes in the sky over the lake’s Bloomington Park beach, as about 70 members of the Kansas City Kite Club spent the afternoon enjoying their hobby during the third annual Clinton Lake Kite Festival. A few kite-flying fans who had driven in from Wichita, St. Joseph, Mo., and even Texas joined in the fun.

Craig Stinson and his 8-year-old daughter, Samantha, were ready to take their kite boards into the water for the first time. They had spent the past few months just learning how to work the large red and blue contraptions on land.

Ritu Agarwal, 6 of Overland Park, watches a kite fly at Bloomington Park at Clinton Lake. About 70 members of the Kansas City Kite Club spent Saturday afternoon enjoying their hobby during the third annual Clinton Lake Kite Festival.

“About 80 percent of it is learning how to fly the kite, and the rest is learning how to stay on the board,” Stinson, of Wichita, said.

The ultimate goal of kite boarders is to let the kite carry them into the air over the water. Stinson and Samantha said they were a long way from that point.

“I’ve got to learn how to fly the kite, and then I’ve got to learn to body drag,” said Samantha, who became interested in kites because of her father and an event she saw on television.

Most of the kites going into the air, however, were smaller, power kites or tail kites of the more ordinary kind you see flying over backyards and parks. Early in the afternoon, equal numbers of children and adults were flying kites. One of the adults was Steve Batliner, of Kansas City, Mo., who has been flying for five or six years. Batliner, president of the kite club, flies for the sheer joy of the experience, but he also enjoys teaching children how to fly kites – and he soaks up the attention he gets from onlookers.

“I had a 70-year-old lady come up to me and say that it (a kite) was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen,” Batliner said. “The little kids, they’ll come out on top of a hill and watch the whole thing.”

Although the kite flying didn’t get started until afternoon because of morning rains, Beaver was still hoping the festival would attract several hundred people who just wanted to watch.