Scott Skinner
From Discourse 18

Scott Skinner. Jose Sainz’s rokkaku (left) flies with Wolfram Wannrich’s 360 Roloplan in the skies of Callaway.

I’ve told the story to many of you, but it bears repeating now that I’ve taken two old kite flying friends with me to Callaway, Nebraska. Twenty-four years ago I was contacted by a woman who knew nothing about kites and kite flying, but who was the #1 advocate for her small Nebraska town of Callaway. Working for the local chamber of commerce, Connie May called me to see if a local kite fly might be a way for the town to attract late-summer, Labor Day tourists. Callaway is a town of about 1,000 people, most of whom farm or support farming – corn fields stretch in every direction from the edges of town. Connie was looking for a wholesome event that the local infrastructure could support, and she explained that while there was one hotel (the Motel Four, more about this later) fliers could camp in the city park, use the municipal pool showers, and be treated to a local bake sale, karaoke in the park, and impromptu events that might happen over the long weekend.

As it turned out, I couldn’t even come to that first Callaway Kite Flight, I’m pretty sure I was committed to Dieppe, France, but I did drive out and set up kites in Callaway’s local library, to be picked up after the event. In retrieving the kites, I found that Connie was completely enamored by the success of the first fly and that this would be an annual event. Now, 23 years later, I convinced Ron Gibian and Jose Sainz to come with me and see if they might be as impressed as I am with the kite flying purity of this event. Early on, Connie and I had decided that this fly would have no formal contests. It would be a showcase for fliers of single and multi-line kites, purely for the enjoyment of the audience (and that meant the enjoyment of the fliers, as well). Jose and Ron flew into Denver to begin our journey to Callaway.

Scott Skinner. Loaded! Jose Sainz (left) and Ron Gibian are packed and ready for the trip to Callaway, Nebraska. 

Scott Skinner. Ron and Jose’s kites take to the skies of Callaway.

It’s really not so bad that the drive from Colorado Springs to Callaway is six hours, but Nebraska is on Central time, so the six hours becomes seven when you factor that in. I warned my passengers that this was the case, but by getting a fairly early start, I knew that our lunch stop would be the first of their unique impressions of Callaway. A couple hours “this side” of Callaway, and right off the interstate in a town even smaller that Callaway is Ole’s in Paxton. The original family who owned Ole’s traveled all over the world on hunting trips, and the bounty of their travels adorns the walls of the restaurant and tavern. Deer, elk, bison, even a standing polar bear decorate almost every vertical surface. These days it strikes the first-timer as the most politically- incorrect place on the planet, but ask Jose or Ron if it’s also one of the most memorable!

Two hours later, rolling in to Callaway, I pulled up to the Motel Four, named that because at the time it only had four rooms. Chamber of Commerce friends of Connie, who converted the quonset hut into the hotel, joked that it was named the Motel Four because if it failed they could call it the Motel For Sale. Well, it’s now expanded and can be called the Motel Six because it has six rooms, and Don Murphy ensured that we three got one of the two new rooms. Don is the only person to have been to all 24 Callaway Kite Flights and he is the arbiter of hotel rooms, making sure they are taken by loyal fans or visitors to Callaway. I should mention that Callaway is not “local” for most of the Nebraska fliers as well. From Lincoln or Omaha it’s a three- to four-hour drive, so many of the “locals” pulled up at about the same time we did – late afternoon on Friday. Dining is one of the challenges of the Callaway weekend. The local steakhouse is under new management almost every year, breakfast is offered on Saturday but not on Sunday at the local diner, and Sunday night the group either travels to another tiny town like Broken Bow, or stays in Callaway for Co-op pizza. Staying with locals in the hotel means that the critical Sunday breakfast is handled by Don and Betty Murphy: pancakes, bacon, eggs, and biscuits and gravy – Nebraska perfection!

So far, I’ve talked about everything but the kite flying, so let me give you some glimpses into the Callaway landscape. Fifteen minutes after arriving at the field (which, by the way, is cleared farmland dedicated to the event), as Jose, Ron, and I assembled and flew the first kites of the day, Jose walked up behind me and said, “I was just flying my kite over there and all of a sudden, behind me, I heard, ‘Mooooooo.’” That’s Callaway. Ron, Jose, and I all laughed when, at noon, the public address announcer stopped talking and started playing the live broadcast of the Nebraska Cornhusker football game. Almost every year, their first game is on Labor Day weekend, and you have to remember that for every home game, Memorial Stadium in Lincoln becomes the third largest city in the state! Just to remind us all that we were at a kite festival, interruptions in the broadcast were made to announce candy drops, runaway kites, and t-shirt sales.

As it turned out, and this is common in my experience, Saturday was a pretty good flying day, with variable but steady winds. Sunday, very light winds dominated and then weather moved through. This is typical Nebraska late-summer weather, and Don Murphy can tell you about years where the weather was considerably better or worse than our experience.

I’ve always loved taking exotic kites to Callaway. I’ve flown Gerd Blattert’s Cody, Achim Kinter’s Grund, and this year it was a 360 Roloplan made by Wolfram Wannrich. It flew beautifully with Jose’s white Rokkaku variant and with Ron’s stylish genki (I never remember what Ron calls things). With the great kites flown by all the serious Nebraskans, as well as the pleasant surprise of Bob and Charmayne Umbowers and their kites, Callaway boasts a sky full of kites extremely rare for Midwest events.

Would we all do it again? Next year is the 25th Kite Flight and Ron, Jose, and I are already talking about logistics of taking more friends and more kites, and spending more time in Callaway. ◆