Story of the Dead Bird Buggy Blast

By Dick Bell

Once upon a time, many moons ago, (before Gail and I were into kites), we would make an annual pilgrimage from our home in Plano Texas to the Gulf Coast (Galveston). This is where we spent all of our Thanksgiving Holidays. Even went to Landry's for the Turkey supper, there just weren't 30 or so kiters with us!

Our mission? To catch fish. Not just any fish, but Gulf Red Snapper.
Those who know of this fish need no further explanation, those not
initiated need not worry because this story is about kites, not fish.

So…..
During one of our annual visits we were doing the normal tourist
activities. Running up and down the sea wall checking out all of the tee shirt vendors and sea shell shops when I spied a huge spin sock flying from an old house just across the street from Stewart Beach. The house had been converted into a kite store.

I'm thinking…. Kites… Beach… Wind…. Hey, we're on vacation. With all intentions of buying just any ole kite to fly on the beach we went in and talked with the owners. But to be honest we left the store without buying any kite at all. We found the kites were very high tech, and the prices to match. But, I'm an engineer by trade. The high tech materials and the great workmanship sparked an interest in me that I still can't shake to this day.

When we got back home I immediately began to search out information about these newly discovered toys. Kites I remembered from my childhood didn't even come close to these.

Carbon fiber…. Rip-stop nylon…I wanted to know everything.

At the time I found three sources of great information. The Kites Etc Store in Dallas, Into the Wind Catalogue and Tom Arbster's Kinetic Kites. We bought our first kite on a suggestion from Tom Arbster.

We flew that kite for about two weeks and decided to move up to a more advanced stunter. We were hooked. The next kite came from Bruce Novellie at the Kite Etc Store. In those days Bruce would give a discount if you joined the local kite club.

We still remember the very first club fly we attended. There we met Al and Nancy Almederaz, and they introduced us to some very special friends we still have today, Brent and Charlene Onstott. Wow, they not only flew kites but also owned "BO's Kites". They even had some kind of contraption called a "Wind Rover" (buggy) that could be powered by the pull of a large kite. Man, we were in kite heaven now.

Gail and I didn't have a buggy but sure wanted one bad. (I was holding out for a shiny red one) We were even invited to the "BO's Kite Factory" where they taught Gail how to sew one of their "Buggy Engines", a four line foil kite.

One of the best times was when they invited us to go buggying on the north side of Padre Island the day after the Rockport Kite Festival. We got to meet more buggy enthusiasts, Connie and Gene Woods. But the beach was small and had lots of small driftwood strewn about. We still had a great time!

The next year (1993) Gail and I were into kites full force. We were
building kites as fast as we could. Kites occupied every spare minute we had.

During this year's pilgrimage to Galveston we fished and brought our kites. Again, just roaming around doing the tourist thing we came across Apffel Park. A secluded huge span of hard packed sand and the winds were great. There wasn't anyone else there but we flew our kites and knew that the beach would be perfect for kites and buggying.

So we decided to invite anyone and everyone that loved kites and buggies for our next year's trek.

In 1994, Brent and Charlene had started a Buggy Newsletter, the
"TEXAS TRACTION TREKKERS". The newsletter was perfect for getting the word out and calling all kite flyers and buggy enthusiasts in the area to meet in Galveston for the next Thanksgiving. At the time I think there were 9 buggiers in Texas/Oklahoma.

There was plenty of room for all of the kitefliers; single line, dual line, fighters, buggiers … so everyone was invited.

The first meeting was Thanksgiving '94. It was just a small gathering of good people that shared a great hobby. Everyone commented on what a great time we were having and that it wasn't even organized.

And we sort of made a pact that it would remain un-organized, we remind each other from time to time, when it gets just a little too organized.

The first year we all just showed up and had a blast….

For three years the owners of Kites over Houston hosted the event with food and friendship. This was Keith and Lou Anderson, Cynthia and James Salazar, and Jeffrey Kold.

The fifth year Carolyn Weir hosted the event. She put in lots of work prior to the event, arranged the hotel accommodations (thank her for the Hotel Galvez) and during the event cooked for the entire group. This woman is tireless!

Brian Smith and Jeff Howard always bring in the fun toys. This year they brought off-road skate boards, surfboards and a van full of other goodies.

The event belongs to no one, and yet belongs to everyone. It's just Gail's and my Thanksgiving retreat. It grows a little bigger each year, and just gets better and better.

If you have not attended this event then you are missing something very special in our Kiting community.

Next year why not plan on spending your Thanksgiving Holiday with our Kite Family.

Dick and Gail Bell
7th BUGGY GALVESTON 2000