Borderland kite club getting set to soar

Enough interest may have risen to get the Borderland High Fliers Kite Club off the ground in the next few weeks, noted John Willis of Kippewa Gardens in International Falls.
Willis and his wife, Katherine, brought their kites to Emo’s centennial celebrations and the Fourth of July holiday in the Falls earlier this month trying to drum up interest in kite flying.
Although he admitted talking about the club was difficult at times during the height of the festivities, Willis said there’s enough interest “to give it that first push.”
“We found somebody that might be a good leadership person and might let him do most of the organizing,” he noted.
“The person that has expressed interest in organizing is 20,” he added. “Other than that, they’re mostly high schoolers.”
Willis said four or five kids expressed interest in kite flying at the Emo centennial but added “they didn’t really jump at the chance” of forming a club.
For now, Willis is going to concentrate on getting a club off the ground in the Fort Frances/International Falls area. And he’s hoping to get a few adults out, too.
“The key is getting the word out in the Fort Frances area, getting as many channels as we can,” he stressed. “And if there’s interest in the surrounding communities, they could form their own [club] or sub-chapter.”
Details, such as membership fees (if any) and the location of the first meeting, still have to be hammered out. But once the club is established, Willis hopes it will stage fun flies and contests on both sides of the border.
“The idea is it’s Borderland,” he stressed.
“We’re just here to get the interest going and provide the guidance, whatever assistance we can, and let the kids–young and not-so-young–decide what we’re going to do,” he added.