Secaucus High School teacher Michael Gehm has found another way to fly.
After an accident 14 years ago that left him wheelchair-bound, Gehm has taken up kite flying as a way to relax and to overcome his physical handicap.
“The challenge of doing it in my wheelchair,” Gehm says is his motivation for taking up the hobby. Gehm, who teaches social studies and recently participated in the Olympic torch relay, began flying kites about five years ago. Since then, he’s learned to control the kites and adapt to their often tricky flight patterns from his chair.
“I fly pilot kites. It’s kind of hard to launch,” said Gehm. “I learned to do it [by rolling] backwards and launching it.”
Gehm flies FlexiFoils, which he describes as “kind of like parasails.”
“They can be pretty difficult to handle at times. The wind’s real strong, and it can be difficult to hold down,” he said.
Gehm has entered several kiting competitions, and said that there are distinctive events in each one.
“You compete in different categories – stunt kites, pilot kites – I’m not competing this year though,” said Gehm. “I’ve got relatives coming in from South Carolina. It’s been a busy summer.”
More than a hobby
While Gehm wasn’t able to make this year’s Liberty Kite Fest and New Jersey Stunt Kite Championships on August 7 and 8, the event was a success nonetheless. Kites of all shapes, sizes, and colors filled the sky of the park, in the shadow of the Manhattan skyline last weekend.
Currently in its 13th year, the competition was originally held in Sandy Hook and Wildwood before it was moved to Jersey City last year.
Sport and fighter kite competitions were held, where seasoned professionals from across the country brought their A-game to the field. Kite-flying season runs from August to late July every year.
The flyers, ranging from teenagers to people in their 50s and 60s, battled fickle wind currents and tangled lines to claim their spot in kiting history.
Kite flyers earn points in each competition they win, which they then put toward their bid to compete in the national finals. The top flyers will head to Seaside, Ore. in October for the AKA National Convention and the Sport Kite Grand Nationals.
The event wasn’t just for the serious-minded, however. A “Fun Fly” for spectators was held, where novices could enjoy the simple beauty of a colorful kite against the blue sky.
Competitive sport
Although many people would probably consider kiting a mere hobby, the Liberty Kite Fest made it clear that those involved regard it as a competitive sport. The American Kiteflyers Association (AKA), based in Walla Walla, Wash., was founded in 1964 as a non-profit organization “dedicated to educating the public in the art, history, technology, and practice of building and flying kites,” according to their website.
Several vendors and booths were set up for spectators and competitors alike to browse kite-related merchandise. Mike Polifrone of Paramus is quite familiar with the world of competitive kite flying. He’s flown kites for 13 years and holds seven national championships. He and his wife, Ruth, competed in pairs events under the team name KFAN (“Kan’t Find A Name”). Current flyers needn’t fear, however, because Polifrone has put his competition days behind him.
“We retired after we won the national championship in Billings, Montana,” he said, as he observed the ballet event from under a registration tent. “We’ve made friends through this all over the country and out of the country. It’s an extended family after a while.”
Welcome back
While flyers traveled from across the country to Liberty State Park for the competition, one man was making a journey back to his old stomping ground.
Matt Epstein, a former Jersey City resident, moved to Mamaroneck, N.Y. in 2001. Epstein works as a video editor for a pharmaceutical company, but manages to find a little time between his job and his family to fly his kites.
Exactly how often does he get out to fly?
“Not enough,” he lamented. “It’s probably hours a month. If I can get out once, twice a month, I’m happy.” “I actually try to keep kiting out of my work life as much as I can,” he continued. “I just do this to relax.” Epstein’s wife Kristie, to whom he’s be married since 1999, and 22-month-old daughter Jenna were on hand to cheer him on.
“She goes berserk,” laughed Epstein, of Jenna. “Pretty much anything she sees in the air is a ‘kite.’ She sees an airplane in the air and says, ‘Kite?'”
While Epstein said that they often fly kites as a family, he added that kiting can often be a very personal experience.
“At the end of the day, it’s a solitary thing,” he said. “You could be flying pairs, you could be flying teams, but at the end of the day, it’s just you and the kite.”