For hobbyist, it was love at first kite

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
SHOULD SOMEONE TELL POLAND resident Cheryl Kear to go fly a kite, she most likely would ask for a month to design, build and test it first.
Kear has spent more than a decade combining cloth, wood, nylon, paper and string to make dozens of aerodynamic shapes that take flight during any gentle breeze.
The collection now contains more than 100 kites, several of which have won various awards around the country.
A winner: The latest Kear creation -- a red, white and blue nine-paneled train kite patterned after a popular Japanese kite style -- won top place March 23 at the Smithsonian Kite Festival in Washington, D.C.
The Japanese use paper and bamboo, but Kear kept it in American tradition with nylon and fiberglass.
She has won three other competitions for her various kite styles. Her favorite is a 7-foot white kite with a wizard in the middle and a tail fashioned into small castles.
The rest of the Kear collection is equally as impressive. There are large fish, dragons, ducks, snakes and an oval conglomeration of small kites that form one large blue and red rainbow that is tied to the ground at both ends and reaches some 30 feet into the air.
Kear and her husband, Tom, even come prepared in the unlikely event that spectators become bored, or suffer neck pains, while looking at the variety of shapes twisting in the air. At those times, she simply drops a parachuting teddy bear from one of the overhead kites.
The bears are fashioned with small Kear-designed parachutes and a release mechanism that can be controlled from the ground.
How it began: Kear's interest in kite making started in 1992 at a Walk on Wick kite flying demonstration by a Cleveland-based kite club. After the demonstration, she started making her own kites, made a trip to the Cleveland club, and has been traveling all over the country to various shows and competitions ever since.
Bringing the designs, shapes and colors together to fly, however, is not all fun and games. Kear spent more than 12 hours locked away in a hotel room sewing the night before the March competition, and that was just enough time to finish half of the kite she was planning to display.
Kear said about 100 hours of sewing time goes into each kite she makes. It is important to remember, she said, that the 100 hours of sewing time comes after many hours of planning and designing the kite.
There also is a cost factor. Kear's last prize-winning kite cost about $200 to make. Her average kite cost is about $150 in materials.
Kear, however, maintains that the hard work and expense are just part of the fun in bringing her creations to fruition.
Sharing knowledge: When she's not working on another kite, she can be found getting other people started on making kites of their own by teaching kite-making classes at 4-H Club events, the YMCA and four times each March at St. Charles School.
"I would advise anybody interested in kite flying to come on out to any one of our kite festivals. We want people to come out and take an interest. We are happy to share what we do," she added.
The next kite festival will be at 11 a.m. April 13 at the Mill Creek MetroParks Farm on state Route 46 in Canfield across from the Canfield Fairgrounds.
jgoodwin@vindy.com