DREAM BECOMES A REALITY

The Rev Family

ABOVE: Joe Hadzicki and Ben D’Antonio at the Bristol International Kite Festival.

NEXT PAGE, TOP: Team fliers in Bristol, England. NEXT PAGE, BOTTOM: Team fliers in Portsmouth,

England.

“Bristol was part of our year long celebration of our Twentieth Anniversary. But it was a party for many reasons. It gave me a chance to do what I do best: give lessons and share the excitement of my invention with all interested, young

and old.” – Joe Hadzicki

Revolution took its 20th birthday to the UK to be a part of the kiting scene in Europe, and what a birthday it was, and even more, what a way to have a birthday party. Myself and team iQuad and even Joe Hadzicki took off for this once in a lifetime event and congregation of Rev fliers.

The first stop on the European tour was Portsmouth, England, where we took to the field as both a company and as a group of many nations and beliefs to fly Revolution kites. In attendance were no less than 8 to 10 teams of the very best fliers in the world from at least six different countries.

We left all the nonsense and personal differences behind and met together to just fly a kite that has given so many of us such great pleasure over the last 20 years, and to tell and show Joe H. what started as a dream is so much more 20 years later.

In Portsmouth we battled weather, wind, and even each other at times to put on the show of a lifetime and fly in sync together with a massive group of fliers, and then to put on the “Biggest Mega Fly Ever” that really did some flying rather than just going up and then down.

After hours of lessons and demos by each team, we came to the line not as any single team but as the largest team ever with only the very best of the best. Set aside was this team or that team. What we had become was the “Revolution Team,” and as an added bonus we even had the man who started all this with just a dream and a hope, Mr. Joe Hadzicki.

The Rev Family

When you were on the line you could hear the moves called in English, French, Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish. That is when I was finally able to be a part of my own personal dream of “one sky, one world and all joined together with kite lines.” All the hard work of helping to put this together was right there in front of me for the whole world to see. There were 47 fliers all together going thru patterns being called.

The thing that sticks in my mind is when I set my kite down and then walked away to look at it all. The tears came to my eyes when I thought of all the people who made my dream possible – people like Ali Fujino and Scott Skinner of the Drachen Foundation; Team iQuad, who kept me going when I just wanted to give up; all the other teams, who believed in someone they really didn’t even know; Revolution, who saw the dream and knew I could pull it off; and Mary Shaffer, who passed away just a few weeks before this all took place, who no matter what wanted me to be happy and live out my dreams. At this point I had to walk away with a tear in my eye and look up at the sky and know that the heavens were looking down and smiling.

From there it was off to the second part of the tour in Bristol where the winds were not what we would have liked but the fliers never stopped, no matter what the conditions were. Once again Team Revolution pulled it off and gave a great show. At one time we were over 50 fliers going through routines, and even though the winds were light, we as a group had fun and were able to strut our stuff for the people.

What really sticks in my mind was looking over and seeing Joe Hadzicki flying with his daughter and son, and thinking to myself how this sport is such a family sport. It makes no difference if you’re young or old,

or from here or there. It’s just about having fun with what you’re doing.

For me, this was so very much more than a kite event. This was about putting lots of different people together in a place where we can all be together, leave all of the world behind, and just enjoy each other’s company, where we can fly as one rather than as small groups. In my mind, this is what the world lacks in so many areas. We as a people have forgotten that the person next to you is your brother, not someone you’re in competition with for some prize. We were in fact a world of many nations all joined together by kite lines, just enjoying each other’s company.

There are so many people that made this possible that to thank everyone would take up way too much space as well as time, but there are several people that must be mentioned and these folks were prime examples of what all this was about. They are: Felix Mottram of the Decorators, Steven Hoath of the Flying Squad, and mostly Ali Fujino and Scott Skinner, and the most important, my friend as well as boss, Joe Hadzicki, thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

100 YEARS OF CODY