ELLEN MORTENSEN

Each Labor Day weekend since 1990, hundreds of kit flyers and spectators converge on the area for the Callaway Kite Flight, and this past weekend saw many return visitors as well as some new faces. Those attending were in for a treat, as the world’s largest flag kite was launched on Sunday as the crowd and launch team cheered with excitement.

The flag kite, flown by Sean Beaver of Great American Kites & Events, is over 10,000-square-feet and weighs 575 pounds. Due to its massive size it was anchored to the ground by a loaded dump truck, provided by Myers Construction, and took a flight crew of 12 people. A video of the historic flight can be found on YouTube under Great American Kites - World’s Largest Flag Kite.

The Callaway Kite Flight was originally conceived as a “wild and crazy idea” by the late Connie May and her family.

Connie was an enthusiastic promoter of local tourism and economic development. The Callaway Chamber of Commerce took up the cause and under Connie’s direction the event was born. It still continues to draw people to Callaway 32 years later.

The first Callaway Kite Flight was held at the Callaway Golf Course, but was later moved to a pasture owned by Foster and LaVonne Smith. The pasture located along Highway 40, four and a half miles southwest of Callaway, is now known as Smith Field.

Smith Field was named by USA Today a number of years ago as one of the 10 best places in the nation to fly a kite, and the Nebraska Legislature then designated Callaway as the Kite Flight Capital of Nebraska.

Technically, this was the 31st Annual Callaway Kite Flight as we lost a year to Covid - as did everything else. But all seems right with the world when you see the colorful kites of all sizes fill the bright blue Nebraska sky. Families and kite enthusiasts come from near and far to take part in the fun, many returning to Callaway for the event every year.

One such attendee is Steve Sweeney of Cozad. Sweeney said he has been making the short trip from Cozad to Smith Field for the Kite Flight for all of the events 31 years. His love for flying kites began much earlier than that though.

“It began when I was a little kid. I just thought I would try it, and it just took off from there,” he shared. “I’ve been flying for more than 40 years, and I have about 20 kites.”

Along with flying his own kites at the annual event, Sweeney also enjoys photographing the kites and especially likes using a drone to capture images from the sky. He then shares those photos online so everyone can enjoy them, he said.

Though he loves the sport of kite flying, Sweeney said it is the people that really keeps him coming back year after year. “It is a family of fun.”