Kite Flyers Dazzle At Montrose Harbor Festival

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CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A Sunny Saturday drew dozens to Montrose Harbor for a kite festival. 

On Cricket Hill, there were kites of various shapes and sizes -- frogs, mermaids, even a whale.

Rich May, from Grinnell, Iowa, said he loves flying kites -- he always has two in the trunk. May also got his sons into kit-flying when they were teenagers, when they were into video games big time.

"You drag them outside. You unplug the things. I work in electronics and computers. So, I just turn off the router and the game quits working," May said.

Gary Maynard is a member of a professional kite team called the “Windjammers." He makes flying a dual string kite called a “train” with about a dozen kites in succession look easy. 

His advice for the novice:  Find a reputable kite shop and an open field. As for wind: "You don't want to go below 8 mph.  If you have to run, there's not enough wind," Maynard said.

Becky John and Liz Kruse were singing "Let's Go Fly a Kite" as they watched the kites dot the sky around them. The event brought back a memory for Kruse and her days growing up in Evanston.

"Our kite got caught in a tree and an Evanston Review reporter came and interviewed us for the Charlie Brown story,"  Kruse joked. "As a child, kite flying is not an entirely positive experience. It's mostly an exercise in frustration."

This was the 21st year for the City of Chicago’s Kids and Kites festival.