Flight to Lake Antoine | News, Sports, Jobs
THE STAGE LAST Saturday at the Color The Wind Festival in Clear Lake, Iowa. Some of the same people involved in this massive aerial kite display will be at Lake Antoine on Saturday for the first Kites Over Awesome Lake Antoine, a free event hosted by the Lake Antoine Park Partners, Wisconsin Kiters Club and funded by local businesses. . (Chris Barragy/Clear Lake (Iowa) Mirror-Reporter)
IRON MOUNTAIN – A new event seems cleared to take off Saturday at Lake Antoine.
Kites Over Awesome Lake Antoine – or the playful KOALA for short – will feature a display of giant, elaborate kites brought to you by the Wisconsin Kiters Club.
Organized by partners at Lake Antoine Park, it is considered the first of its kind to take place on the Upper Peninsula, said event chair Barbara Kramer.
Kramer said the idea sprouted after his nephew from Two Rivers, Wis., kept raving about the community’s annual kites over Lake Michigan. He was able to connect Kramer with the organizer, Chow Chong, who also owns the Unique Flying Objects business in Two Rivers.
Some of the other events the group participated in were posted on YouTube by Michael K. Sherman, one of the kite experts and their videographer.
Thanks to various sponsors, Kites Over Awesome Lake Antoine will be free. The Wisconsin group actually insists that no admission is charged, Kramer said, and LAPP only has to cover their expenses such as hotel, meals and travel.
With sunny and above-freezing weather, conditions should be near perfect for flying over the ice, Kramer said.
The day will begin with a free kite-building workshop for children at 9 a.m. Vision Source sponsors the limited number of kites that kids can assemble in Pavilion 1, fly on the ice from the lake to the park, and then take them home.
The giant kites will take flight starting at 11 a.m., Kramer said. The work, expertise and strength required to control these kites once in the air is impressive, she added, as they must be anchored in the ice of the lake. They only fly about 150 to 200 feet in the air.
“The pressure on these kites is extreme”, said Kramer.
Due to the risk factor, no motorized vehicles will be allowed on Lake Antoine during the event, as anyone who crosses one of the kite lines could be seriously injured or killed. Snowmobile parking is also suspended, Kramer said. Law enforcement will be on hand to make sure everyone follows the restrictions.
But kids can get on the ice for a kite candy drop by Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group set up by Carrie Toretta-Partello.
It’s a family-friendly, alcohol-free event, Kramer said. But hot food will be available for purchase from the Strong Tower Church group from 11 a.m. in Pavilion 1.
Pavilion 1 will also include KOALA merchandise – pins, beanies and headbands – and a place to warm up if needed, until the event ends at 4 p.m.
Funds raised will be used to host more family events such as the first FallFest and Lights At The Lake in 2021.
Public parking will be available in the large lot at the north end of the park. But spaces could be hard to come by as the morning progressed – Kramer said she wasn’t sure what kind of crowd to expect, but the event’s social media site KOALA received more than 30,000 hits .
“Go out and enjoy” said Kramer.
“We value ideas, labor and donations from businesses in our community,” LAPP Board Treasurer Ann Hruska said. Other donors include Bacco Construction, First Bank, Days Inn of Iron Mountain, BOSS Snowplow, Stenberg Bros., G. Brooks Electric, The Pasty Oven, and Imagination Factory Children’s Museum.