SIGHT TO BEHOLD — A dozen or more large-scale kites, some measuring up to 140 feet long, flew over Clear Lake in Waseca Sunday as part of the city's annual Sleigh and Cutter Event. Star Eagle photo by Deb Bently
By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
For nearly everyone involved, Sunday’s kite festival over Clear Lake in Waseca was an “eye-opening” event.
Most significantly, there were over 1,000 spectators, most of whom were experiencing giant kites for the first time. Somewhere around 15 gigantic kites, the largest of which measured about 140 feet long, were rotated in and out of the skies during the five-hour show. Shaped like whales, tigers, dogs, horses, octopuses and more, the kites created a colorful spectacle visible from all around the lake.
“It was amazing,” says Waseca Sleigh and Cutter planning committee member Molly Kopischke, who coordinated the show. “The kites were so beautiful and so fun. It was great to see the expressions on people’s faces as they watched everything going on.
“We had such a positive response, we’re already making plans for next year.”
For Sean Beaver, owner/operator of Great American Kites and Events out of Kansas City, the Clear Lake showing was a new experience on many levels. “Two weeks ago, I hadn’t even heard of Waseca,” he says. “Now I know it’s a warm community with real heart and filled with a lot of people dedicated to making good things happen.”
Beaver’s company owns more than 100 mega-kites, the largest of which has so much pull it requires the weight of a loaded gravel truck to anchor it. His typical show season includes 35 to 40 displays between mid-March and mid-October and ranges “from Arizona to Kentucky, and everywhere in between.
“We don’t typically show on frozen lakes,” he admits, “because we don’t have those down here in Kansas City.” In fact, his only prior experience on ice is an annual festival held in February in Clear Lake, IA, which happened to take place this past Saturday. Coincidentally, the timing of the Waseca showing “piggy-backed” off that Iowa event. He admits to having been amazed how much weight ice can hold, and to having been somewhat nervous about the cracking sounds he kept hearing. “I can’t quite bring myself, yet, to drive my car out on the ice,” he says with a smile.
Kites on ice present some interesting challenges. Beaver observes that, during the five hours of Sunday’s show, the winds shifted a full 90 degrees, creating some complications for the large kites. Each time any of them would come down, they would soak up water and become heavier, complicating the process of getting them airborne again. Also, rather than the usual stakes pounded into the ground, kites were anchored by drilling a hole through the ice, pushing in a board with a rope or cable attached, then turning it sideways so it couldn’t pull out.
“These things pull with thousands of pounds of pressure,” he comments, “so you need something really reliable to anchor them.”
Despite the challenges, Beaver and his team of 8 workers, with the help of several local volunteers, were able to manage the show.
“We were blessed with absolutely perfect weather,” observes organizer Kopischke regarding the temperatures above 40 degrees and the 15-20 mph winds. “So I’m grateful everything worked out the way it did.” She explains that the first date under consideration was this coming weekend, to coincide with snowmobile races scheduled for the 26th. But because Beaver was going to be at the Iowa festival on Saturday, it made sense to move the timeline forward.
Despite the impressive variety of colors, shapes and sizes of kites he keeps in the air, Beaver insists, “Yes, we fly kites, but we’re in the ‘amazing memory’ business.”
He says the community involvement, offers of assistance, warm greetings and friendly atmosphere made Sunday’s event special for him. “My father always used to say ‘None of us are as good as all of us,’ and that was really true out there on the ice.”
Beaver commented that he found it especially uplifting to see so many parents and children enjoying the event together. “Anything we can do to get this generation off their couches, away from their electronic devices, and out enjoying the great outdoors is a good thing,” he says, remembering that many of his shows and displays over the past couple years were canceled by the pandemic.
“It’s good to see things opening up again, to see people out enjoying themselves and appreciating their communities.
“There’s no better way to ‘keep your chin up’ than by looking at something amazing in the sky above you.”