West Lake Kite Fest '98

Through the eyes of a Tulsan

by Collette Lemons

Pam and Steve Thomason show us a great time every year and this year was no different. March 27 - 30 were three fun filled days and evenings with a variety of activities. Jeff Howard had a workshop Friday night on how to build your own indoor kite. I didn’t attend that one but, from what I heard, it was a great time. Jeff was also the announcer throughout the event and kept things moving.

Saturday was the competition, I don’t know who got what anymore, but it should be listed on the AKA site somewhere. They had plenty of wind to go around, we put up a car port for wind block and shade, and soon made friends with Dennis Phillips and his sidekick, Tony. I know they loved us for our shade. They came away with a lot of awards at the banquet; it started to sound like the Dennis and Tony Show. Actually, they judged all day when they weren’t competing and the sun was hot. But they had their beer and they were doing all right. Meanwhile, Cliff Lemons was out on the north end of the field giving buggy rides for a dollar. He gave 38 rides on Saturday and he pretty much wore himself out. One nice lady paid $10 for a ride, when she got off she said it was worth it, hmmmmm, wonder if I do know everything. I know I want a ride next time.

That night we had BBQ banquet, awards and real auctioneers for the auction. I learned not to play around where the auctioneer can see you. Oh well. All for a good cause. Their festival promotes the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Then we all played in the gym except for those Dennis corrupted with beer on the tailgate of his truck.

Sunday morning dawned with a lot of wind again. We all invaded Pam and Steve’s house. That will teach them to let everyone know where they live. Pam looked like she could keep the festival going for a few more days. NOT. She worked hard Saturday and she was ready to have fun. We all headed out for the kite field after buying more beer. I know it sounds like all we did was drink beer, but the liquor stores are closed on Sundays. Dennis and Tony tried to teach us a drinking game, something about Cardinal Puff. I didn’t catch on well, but I couldn’t picture a Tulsa Wind Rider playing a game that means trying not to drink. But it could happen. NOT.

We played all day. Tony gave us a buggy demo, but I think he was also trying to clean it up some because he went right down to the water. John Lemons gave a buggy demo to show us where the larger badger holes were. Part of his demo was how to exit the buggy quickly and gracefully, hehehehe. Cliff and Jeff had a great time buggying and Cliff gave a few more tandem rides to the people who worked the festival on Saturday. We were pretty tired around 4:00 p.m. and went on our merry way. Dennis and Tony made it home alive, although the pickup went into a deep sleep after they got home.

Can’t wait to do it all again next year!