Wheaton Park District 4th Annual Go Fly a Kite Event

On Saturday, April 21, 2012 the Wheaton Park District and area residents will attempt to break Wheaton’s record of 843 kites in the air simultaneously at the 4^th Annual Go Fly a Kite event! The event will take place at Graf Park, 1855 Manchester Road in Wheaton. Registration begins at 10am. Free kite making will take place from at 11am to 12:30pm. The amazing Grand Launch will commence at 11:30am. Demonstrations by the Chicago Fire Kite Team and Connor Doran, semifinalist from America’s Got Talent, will take place at 12pm and 1pm. Kite games for the kids will begin at 12:30pm. Registration forms can be downloaded off the Wheaton Park District’s web site at www.wheatonparkdistrict.com.  This is a FREE event, but registration is necessary so we can get an accurate kite count. A variety of community vendors will be present and the park’s concession stand will be open. Kites will also be available for purchase. A video of last year’s event can be viewed at http://wheaton-il.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=8&clip_id=511.

In 2010, top rated NBC’s America’s Got Talent welcomed Connor Doran to audition for the show after seeing him fly his indoor Revolution Kite on video. Connor auditioned along with 90,000 people and landed in the top 12 of America’s Got Talent in 2010! Because of Connor’s success on the show, he was asked to be the keynote speaker and fly his kites at the National Walk for Epilepsy in Washington DC.  He developed the Dare to Dream Team to support Epilepsy Awareness and raised money to support the National Epilepsy Foundation. Connor speaks to people of all ages about his journey and his struggles.  His Dare to Dream motto, Overcoming Life’s Obstacles, is a key point that he shares to motivate others to believe in themselves and strive to be everything they can be.  Connor speaks out against bullying and helps others gain a voice to speak out for themselves and others. 

The Chicago Fire Kite Team is a 3-6 member team that was formed by Eric Wolff in 1986 in Chicago, IL. The team recently celebrated its 25^th anniversary. It is the longest running competitive sport team in the United States.  The Fire is the number one Kite Flying team in the United States and flies in events and competitions all over the world. The Fire flies precision and ballet routines with dual line sport kites to music.  Team members include Eric Wolff, Russ Faulk, Dan Brinnehl, Kathy Brinnehl, Josh Gordon and Zachary Gordon. Eric Wolff , team founder will be at this event! A video of one of their demonstrations can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5J5X2dKmr0.