CONNOR DORAN
Top Rated NBC’s America’s Got Talent welcomed Connor to audition after seeing him fly his indoor Revolution Kite on video. Connor auditioned along with 90,000 people and brought indoor kite flying to the world. His skill and love of flying qualified him to the Las Vegas shows, and then back for the Live Wildcard Quarter Finals show, in Los Angeles California. Connor’s world wide support gave him a spot in the top 24 for the Semi Final round. He then remained in Los Angeles and landed in the top 12 of The America’s Got Talent 2010. Revolution Kites has been a key to Connor’s success both on the stage and on the beaches. Connor began flying in 2007 at the Bend, OR Kite Festival. With some guidance and advice from some of the best quad line pilots in the world, Connor has come a long way quickly in sport kite competition.
In 2009, he won the indoor kite competition at the Windless Kite Festival in Long Beach, WA. He went on to win the Indoor NW Sport Kite competition in Experienced landing him the 2010 Experienced Indoor Kite champion for back to back titles. He competed in the 2010 AKA Grand National Championships and earned a top three title.
Connor has performed at the Lincoln City indoor kite festival’s 2009 and 2010 shows led by Aerial Experience Productions. Connor also performed in Galveston, TX at the Moody Gardens AT&T & Aerial Productions *Imagine Christmas Show*.
Connor had the honor of being invited to Washington DC in March of 2011 to perform at the Smithsonian Indoor Kite Festival. The National Epilepsy Foundation invited him to be the keynote speaker and fly his kites at the National Walk for Epilepsy in Washington DC. He along with his mother, Amy Doran, developed the Dare to Dream Team to support Epilepsy Awareness and raise money to support the National Epilepsy Foundation.
For more information on Connor’s appearances go to: http://connordoran.wordpress.com/
AMY DORAN
Amy has been flying and competing with the NW Sport Kite League since 2006 but soon after began exploring all the aspect of the kiting world including kite making. She flies dual line sport kites, and Revolution quad line kites both indoors and outdoors. After just 2 years of kite making, Amy now works with Revolution Kites to create some custom quad line kites. All the work she does is her own custom artwork.
In 2007 she qualified for the American Kite Association National Championships in Ocean Shores, WA. That is where the *Charlie Chaplin* routine really emerged in the Outdoor Open Individual Ballet. Charlie won the national title for 2007 and Charlie continues to have fun with crowds all over North America.
Amy performed in Galveston TX at the Moody Gardens AT&T Production of *Imagine Christmas*. This full production sold out an 11 show run and included live music, a full stage production, Aerialists, and a full cast of performers. She has also appeared with Aerial Experience Productions in three shows at the Lincoln City Indoor Kite Festival.
With four AKA Grand National titles under her wing, Amy’s goal is to share kiting and the joy it brings with people around the world.
Amy flew in Washington DC in March of 2011 at the Smithsonian Indoor Kite Festival, the Smithsonian Cherry Blossom Kite Festival and then at the National Epilepsy Foundation National Walk for Epilepsy. Along with her son Connor Doran, Amy developed the Dare to Dream Team to help raise Epilepsy Awareness and money to support research and support for the National Epilepsy Foundation.
DAVID & SUSAN GOMBERG
Live in Neotsu, OR just outside of Lincoln City. David & Susan are accomplished fliers & international travelers who are known for their big “show kites”. Together they own Gomberg Kite Productions International, a kite product distributor & event management partnership since 1985. GKPI has provided kite shows for Walt Disney, the London Millennium Celebration, major motion pictures, and the Super Bowl. They perform at 20 to 30 events each year & have participated at festivals in 35 states & 25 countries. In 2005, GKPI acquired the world’s largest kite, a 10,000 square foot showpiece that is now available for exhibitions & shows in N. America. Last year, David & Susan opened a kite store in Lincoln City at Tanger Outlet Center, “North West Winds” and in 2010 opened a second store across from the D-River Wayside with the same name. Look for the opening of a third store in Seaside, Oregon in the near future.
David served an unprecedented ten terms as President of the American Kitefliers Association (AKA), the largest association of kite enthusiasts in the world. He also serves as Vice Chair of the International Kite Federation and Chairman of the World Sport Kite Championships Organizing Committee and was twice elected President of the Kite Trade Association International. David has received the highest awards that can be given by the international kiteflying community: the Edeiken Award from the AKA and the Checkley Award from the Kite Trade Association. In 2005, he was inducted into Kiting Hall of Fame by the World Kite Museum. Susan was recognized with the Ingraham Award for Lifetime Service to the American Kitefliers Association. In 2004, Gomberg Kite Productions was named one of the top three family Businesses in the State of Oregon.
For more information about the Gombergs and their collection of kite shops visit www.gombergkites.com
TEAM iQUAD
Formed in May of 2006, the iQuad team is composed of pilots from Oregon, Washington, California and Canada. iQuad was founded by John Barresi from Portland, Oregon and David Hathaway from British Columbia, Canada.
In 2007 the iQuad team seriously began to promote the art and sport of quad line kite flying through exposure at events all over North America, providing workshops, interacting with media and sharing the joys of flight. Their first love is simply flying, and especially with other people. This has been the mainstay of their philosophy and approach since the start.
During 2006-2008, iQuad flew “freestyle” or improvised routines using a large variety of maneuvers that start or finish in various positions, allowing them to execute combinations from the commands (or calls) given by their team captain, all the while adjusting speed and tempo based purely on the speed and tone of those calls… The team captain is on the lead kite, setting the pace and altitude, issuing commands and watching the whole sky.
In February of 2009, the team created their first choreographed four-person routine to a song by ACDC, titled “Back in Black”, and while they still fly freestyle as well, iQuad team members have also enjoyed the addition of the faster and more dynamic flight made possible by having a fully pre-planned routine.
The kites they use are Revolutions (also known as “Revs”), specialized quad (four) line kites originally designed by Joe Hadzicki in 1987. Above and beyond any other quad line kite, Revs are truly multi-directional in the sky with the ability to fly forward, backward, sideways, adjusting speed, and even stopping on a dime to hover nearly motionless in mid-air. While some maneuvers require a certain wind range, iQuad has successfully performed as a team in all conditions from zero wind (indoors) all the way up to nearly 50 miles per hour.
For more information and individual team member bios visit their website at www.teamiquad.com
RONDA BREWER & LINDSEY JOHNSON
From Lincoln City, OR Ronda became involved in kiting in 1985. She has been invited to countless events throughout the country to fly her kites, run events, judge kite makers’ competitions, or teach classes on kite building, knot tying, kite flying, Rokkaku kite and battle techniques. Additionally, her skills at teaching and leading children in kite making have made her a favorite attraction at festivals all around the country.
In her kite circles, Ronda is known as the “Tyvek Queen” for her use of DuPont Tyvek in the construction of her award-winning, hand-painted creations. She is a fierce competitor on the Rokkaku kite battlefield, where her aggressive and determined style has earned her the nickname “The Taz.” Her motto: “I may eventually look my age, but I will never act it!” Her newest passion is for indoor kite flying. She has been instrumental in the organizing of the Lincoln City Indoor Kite Festival.
Over the years Ronda and her husband Lindsey Johnson have collaborated to create many unique and innovative products. In 2004 they launched their company, PhantomStarDesign.com. Their Tyvek no-sew kite kits are used in workshops around the world by schoolteachers for science and art classes, for corporate teambuilding exercises, by artists, and as individual kite projects for all ages. These kits allow the builder to enjoy the experience of creating their own kite without the need to know how to sew. Their goal is to bring kite making to the masses.
Ronda and Lindsey are members of the Associated Oregon Kiters (AOK) where they serve as board members and the American Kite Flyers Association (AKA). Ronda is a board member and the current Education Chair of the AKA. Ronda also serves on the Lincoln City Parks and Recreation advisory board.
KEN TUMMINIA
Ken Tumminia, a Lincoln City resident, is a colorful and regular feature of the kite festivals in Lincoln City. Ken’s first experience with kiting was watching his grandfather make box kites and launches them from his vineyard tractor. In 1972 while with the Big Brother program, he saw folks flying kites and was inspired to make them from sticks and newspapers. The addiction became more serious when he moved to Portland and started visiting kite stores and then to Lincoln City where he worked for many years at Catch the Wind. Along the way he has collected hundreds, obtained as gifts or from purchases and raffles, and portions of his collection have been placed on display during the kite Lincoln City kite festivals.
Sitting still isn’t a particular strength of Ken’s, so he likes to put a group of kites in the air at one time and change them every thirty minutes or so to offer the crowd an ongoing show. Single lines are his attraction, since they can be launched quickly. Ken recently returned to flying stunt kites. If you ask Ken what motivates him to move from festival to festival, he’ll tell you very simply that he does it because it’s fun.
PENNY LINGENFELTER
If there were such a position as, “Kite Ambassador to the World”, our nominee would be Penny Lingenfelter. Penny, from Port Orchard, Washington, loves to teach, fly, learn, and do just about anything related to kites and kite flying. Kites came into Penny’s life over a decade ago after she took some children to a festival and became enthralled with a multi-colored string of bird shaped kites. She was hooked by the kaleidoscope of colors in the sky and found a passion worth pursuing.
Penny began to fly quad line kites made by Revolution Kites. She comes to festivals prepared to entertain, not only with her expert flying skills, but also with her costumed, choreographed routines. Penny has been a pirate, a clown, a mermaid, a fairy, The Cat in the Hat, a purple witch and even a dinosaur emerging from an egg.
After Penny intrigues and beguiles young and old with her routines, she eagerly provides free flying lessons to all who ask, always available to invest time and energy into new devotees of the sport. That’s what an ambassador does.
Penny also can compete with the best. She has placed in the top three at the NW Sport Kite League competitions and at the American Kitefliers Association National Champion competitions several times.
About 10 years ago, Penny discovered indoor kite flying, the unique sport of flying with very light kites indoors, without wind. She has won many awards locally and nationally.
TEAM SUSPENDED ANIMATION
BARRY & SUSAN TISLOW
From Renton, WA the Tislows have been flying kites for more than twenty years. It all started with a 6’ Delta kite which they still own. Because they have always enjoyed a kite “show” when they flew smaller kites they would end up flying up to 30 at one time. Now they fly larger kites and don’t need to fly as many at one time, but it is a much more impressive show!
They are the founding members of Team Suspended Animation and fly up and down the WA & OR coasts. Jointly, as a team, they fly and own more big show kites than any other team in the country. Barry and Susan have about 300 big show kites in their kite bag alone, add in all the other members of the team and it’s a lot of kite fun!
ED PAULSEN
Ed has always been interested in things that fly and just recently got into serious kite flying. After nearly 50 years in the telecommunications industry, in Engineering and a sales capacity he retired in the early 2000′s and settled down in the Vancouver, WA area. He was immediately attracted to the large parafoils and inflatable kites. He has a modest show with his 90 square foot pilots, a Sutton 252, small Octopus, mid-size Gonzalez Bros Red Devil and a mid-size Squid. The most recent addition to the show is a brand new max sized Gonzalez Bros Red Devil.
Ed is always willing to share the things that he has learned from the experienced fliers he has befriended in his short kiting experience. Always friendly, stop by and say hello.
RAY & DONNA HERTZ
From the Seattle, WA area, Ray and Donna are avid kite fliers and instrumental in the “Big” kite show adding many of their own kites. Avid supporters of the Lincoln City kite festivals and very friendly folk walk over and say hello!
TEAM ISLAND QUAD
Is a kite performance team based in Victoria BC, Canada. Formed in the spring of 2009 the team has traveled to events in Canada and USA. Each festival has brought new adventures and new friends into their lives. Team Island Quad is made up of a core group of five pilots, Terry Wiggill, Willow Robin, Mario Di Lucca, Peter Wolf all from Vancouver Island BC and Brad Bixby who hails from Whidbey Island in WA State. Flying Revolution quad-line kites and practicing at Clover Point in Victoria, BC the team constantly works to improve their technique, always striving to give the audience the best performance possible. The flyers who came together all had different levels of skill and experience but possess a similar passion, sharing their knowledge, encouraging others to join in and just having fun flying. They are living proof that anyone can do this!!!
TERRY WIGGILL- POSITION: CAPTAIN
A long term resident of Victoria BC, Canada but raised in windy southern Alberta, Terry’s only kite experience as a child was a disastrous flight with a homemade diamond kite. In 2006 after watching some local Revolution kite flyers and seeing how much fun they were having he was “hooked “. Terry has strived to master the skill of not only controlling the kite but also learning what it takes to be a team leader. Terry’s position requires him to call and coordinate the moves that the audience will see. Using voice commands, Terry relies on his team members to interrupt those calls and present the picture he sees in his mind. Terry carries the same passion for teaching new flyers both individual skills and the thrill of team flying. As a founding member of Team Island Quad, Terry is thrilled to see the positive response and acknowledgement the whole team has received.
MARIO DI LUCCA- POSITION: TAIL GUNNER
Originally from Argentina lives in Victoria BC, Canada and has been flying kites longer than he can remember, but seriously for fun since 2003. Mario competed for the last six years at the experienced level in individual, pairs and team precision and ballet competition events organized by the NW Sport Kite League in British Columbia, WA, OR and CA. He has won a variety of events during his career and was invited to compete at the last two AKA National Convention and Competition events. He flies outdoors and indoors using a diversity of single, dual and quad-line stunt kites. Mario’s favorite fun is Revolution kites team flying. He is one of the core members of Team Island Quad, Team Quad Amigos, and an honorary member with the iQuad team. As a committed member to Team Island Quad, Mario’s dogged persistence on more practice, more flying has earned him the affectionate nickname of “the whip”. Mario always finds the best in others and with a gentle hand offers to share his experience in flying kites with others.
WILLOW ROBIN- POSITION : #2 WINGMAN
Willow is also one of the founding members of Team Island Quad and also resident of Victoria BC, Canada. With less than 2 years experience and flying Revolution quad-line kites exclusively, Willow has made incredible strides in her flying skills. Mentored by other more experienced pilots Willow has grasped that feel for what it really means to “Hold Your Hover “. Her gregarious spirit and huge heart is well know amongst the kite community. She excels at helping others wanting to learn how to enjoy this wonderful sport. Always there with a helping hand, Willow brings many smiles to the field. Willow’s drive and determination has garnered her a coveted position as an alternate on Team iQuad. Her ability to adapt quickly makes her an excellent choice for the number 2 position on the line for Team Island Quad.
BRAD BIXBY- POSITION : #3 WINGMAN
Brad is the newest member of Island Quad and resides on beautiful Whidbey Island, WA. A relative newcomer to kite flying with close to two years experience on the lines Brad has concentrated on building up his team flying skills with a commitment to practicing at every opportunity. After watching John Barresi perform at a local festival Brad knew he too had to learn to fly a Revolution kite. Brads approachable nature has made it easy for him to develop lasting friendships with the flyers he meets. Brads positive attitude and analytical mind benefits Island Quad in many aspects of team flying. Being a patient teacher Brad makes every effort to give new flyers the knowledge has gained. Because he relishes a challenge, Brad is a great choice for #3 position.
JERIMY COLBERT
From Lincoln City, OR, has been building kites since 1989 when his family purchased a Delta-Conyne design for production. He has since branched out on his own and dabbled with artistic appliqué sails, sport kite designs, banners and a unique variant of the Cody War Kite. He flies kites of all shapes and sizes indoors and out, and loves to share his techniques and experiences with others that love to harness the wind.
Jerimy is extremely excited to watch the next generation of flyers, including his own son Zach, as they develop their skills, the art and the sport of modern kiteflying.
ZACH COLBERT
Also from Lincoln City, OR, has been flying kites of all kind since he was four years old. He can fly just about every kite you can put in his hands, and loves to teach others about kiting and about his fellow kite fliers. Outside of the kiting community, Zach is a Boy Scout, and a band geek, playing five instruments, including flute, trumpet, and clarinet. Zach lives to fly kites, and teach others
PHIL & BARBARA BURKS
Have been designing, building and flying large kites together since 1999. They specialize in flying large stacks of trilby kites as a team. They also enjoy team flying with their other dual line kites. The Trilbys are custom modified by them to fly in lighter winds and to take the strong winds in the Northwest that they often fly in. One day Phil wanted to build a large delta kite and Barbara said that was ok as long as he used “scraps” to build it. The result is a 30’ multicolored delta and tube tail with matching 40’ long spinsock . Phil’s pieces of scraps must be a bit larger than most people. Look for the large stack of 24 RWB Trilbys when the wind is right for some patriotic flying! They are well known flying Red, White and Blue kites and large spinsocks but also added some large rainbow colored items including a full size custom made octopus from New Zealand that was the first one like it in the world.
Some of the things that also keeps them busy besides building kites are they both love to fly kites… a lot…. have several large vegetable gardens at home and lots of flower beds. They keep busy picking berries in the yard and make their own spaghetti sauce all from the garden they refer as the “grocery store.” They build lots of bird houses and the yard gets quite noisy during the summer filled with lots of different birds eating, taking baths and raising babies. They both like to go fishing with Barbara usually catching the most and the largest fish. Phil has even done some ocean kite fishing combining two great hobbies into one.
Together Barbara and Phil always have a great time flying in good weather and bad with everyone they meet out on the kite field. Phil says “That is what it is all about, having fun, meeting some of the best people in the world and flying together.”