Did you know the ice cream sundae was ‘invented’ in Two Rivers Wisconsin? This was just one of the things we discovered on our trip Labor Day Weekend to the first Kites over Lake Michigan festival.

The festival itself was delightful. We had a pristine beach – just the right size for kiting. We had sunshine, a warm pleasant breeze, a fine group of fliers, an enthused and polite crowd, and plenty of fun. The event was fairly informal. When the music player failed to work well with the sound system, we loaded up a ‘boom-box’ and just set the microphone in front of the speakers to broadcast songs.

For Bol Racing, we recruited major sponsors, the city manager, and mayor. Kids lined up by the dozens for a chance to follow them across the field, pulling large baskets behind.

As I said before, this was the first kite event held in Two Rivers and it was an excellent start. We need more events and there seems strong support for an even larger kite gathering next September. The flying zone was almost ideal. We were in a city park in a residential area, just a few blocks from city center. There was room on the beach for three large flying field and sand was groomed and smoothed each morning.

Here's a nice aerial shot of our corner of the field done by Tony Killip.

The area was used for kayaking and biking, and so had a tradition of family oriented activities. Certainly kiting will be part of the future tradition. And with the three local credit unions working together as principal sponsors, and the entire downtown association supporting the event, funding seems certain for next year. Sunday night, the Wisconsin Kiters all headed out for pizza. But the restaurant was too small to seat the entire group. No problem. We pulled chairs and tables out of our cars and squeezed the group in! And the ice cream?? Before leaving town, Susie and I made a point to go out and complete some historical research….

Hey -- those 7.5 foot Spikey Balls looked pretty good on the beach. And come to think of it, so did the 10 foot baskets we used for racing. So how about we mark them down 20% between now and September 15. That way, if you think they look good too, you can add a couple to your bag.

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