American Kitefliers Association

The convention was great and the weather was an interesting change. I had the oportunity to visit with several members of our region and look forward to the new year. My position on the board will give our region an added voice and I look forward to hearing from you. My position is not limited to one region but you all know where my heart lies..  I also hope to see every member of the region do something with National Kite Month. I plan to have a set of pictures and poster items available for display in you local library or school. I also hope to have an update to the website completed to give more information on kitebuilding workshops. Watching kids make and fly thier own creations cant help but bring a smile to your face. Its interesting to read about it here but even more fun to see it for yourself. Now is the time to start gatering supplies and getting on the schedule with the church and other youth groups to have a kite day where you can share the joy of kiting with your neighbors.

Hi Y'All!

As some of you may know, when I returned from convention, my computer had a serious meltdown! It was in Intensive Care for a few days, but the brain was salvaged & able to be input into a new body. Then MY body fell apart (no snickering!)! I'm right handed, & my right wrist tendon gave out. Wow!... who saw THAT coming?!?! Anyway, both my computer & I are back up to kickin' speed.   

My deep gratitude to Troy for again stepping up to create a Regional calendar! Between that & the AKA calendar, it's easy to discover kiting events during our busy Spring!

Congratulations to Rick Hawkins for once again being named to spearhead National Kite Month. The appointment also earned him a position as a new Director at Large to the AKA Board.

Keep looking up!
  - Gayle -

Gayle, good to hear you made it home from convention ok and you and your puter are up and running.
A WARNING to all the other kiters out there. DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT stand behind  Gayle at any event. If you do you will find out why, as I did at convention.

Best to you, and keep up the good work in region 8

How can you not stand behind Gayle. She is our leader and by definition she is out in front showing us the way.. I guess you have more to tell if we ask privately but for now we will accept the suggestion to not stand CLOSE behind Gayle.

Several clubs have websites and chat areas that help us communicate among the different groups. As a member of S.H.A.R.K. the chat area is active and sometimes you miss some important posting along with all the current discussions. This is a great place to post the information that all of the region should be aware of and to invite more participation between all the great clubs and the independent folks in our region.

HEY TROY>>> We appreciate you...and all the work that you do to keep our weekends full of fun.

Having a central area to collect information should make things easier for all of us to stay in touch. Gayle can see what other clubs and areas are doing with short event reports posted here and Troy can keep up with announcements and changes to the schedule if they forget to send him a personal note. The rest of us can make sure we are staying informed with  Gayle positn ga copy of her Regiaonal announcements here in case members fail to keep thier addresses up to date.

This is exactally the tool that Galye attempted to create when we had an independent regional posting area a few years ago. As you may recall the bylaws require that the Official Regional use of the AKA name be controlled by the BOD and so the independent regional chat area had to be removed.

Are there no 2011 events?
The calendar still shows 2010.

Spence,
     Been a busy time for me the past few months with the holidays and my daughter joining the US Navy. Working on the Region 8 Calendar this weekend and should have it ready for view by Monday evening Jan 17th.

The shopping list of places to go and things to see is up and running. Thanks Troy for all the hard work.

Have just been informed that Benton, Arkansas will not be doing a kite fly this April 16 th.  Hopefully next year.

Stringfly <>++++++
Little Rock, AR.

I am making plans to attend the convetion this year and would like to consider working with others in the area. It looks like I have a possibility to drive instead of fly since right now two of us are going and it might end up working better for us.

Plan B is to fly into Phillidelphia on probaby sun or Sat and rent a car for the drive to the beach. If someone else is flying in we might be able to provide transportation either way since I will rent our have a car.