Long Beach museum showcases kites from around the world

LONG BEACH, Pacific County - If only Kay Buesing could go fly a kite.

As keeper of the World Kite Museum & Hall of Fame in Long Beach, Buesing, 65, has too little time these days to indulge her passion for catching the sea breezes.

When she's not leading school groups and visitors through the miniature museum, she's busy figuring out how to use 1,000 precious square feet of space to display a collection of huge kites shaped like bats, elephants, dragons and mysterious, mythical creatures.

Kay and her husband, Jim, closed their kite shop, Long Beach Kites, and founded the museum 10 years ago. Around that time, they inherited a collection of 700 kites from Japan, China and Malaysia, donated by Seattle architect David Checkley.

Almost from the beginning, the museum had outgrown its home - a four-room cottage at 112 3rd St. N.W., donated by the Long Beach parks department.

"We have more than 1,400 kites in our collection," said Buesing. Most of them are kept in storage, something she hopes will change with plans for a new museum on state park land just west of the Bolstad beach approach arch in Long Beach.

High ceilings will make it possible to display larger kites, which now have to be draped down the sides of walls. The new building will be 10 times the size of the present museum, with enough room for kite-making classes and community events. If all goes well, it will be open by 2003. A $2 million fund-raising campaign will begin in early summer.

In the meantime, the museum will continue displaying portions of its collection on a rotating basis.

The museum has also mounted an ongoing display focusing on the Wright brothers' 1899 experiment with a kite to further their study of the science of flight.

Much of the museum's focus is educational. Buesing seems to enjoy teaching groups of pre-schoolers how to make bumblebee kites out of sheets of typing paper as much as she does explaining the science and history of kite-flying.

The last Sunday of every month, January through June, is set aside as an open house for families. Buesing and educational director Maryann Lafave teach kite-making around cultural themes - dragon masks to mark the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar; square Dutch kites in celebration of Holland, one of the first Western countries to fly kites; and carp windsocks in commemoration of Boys' Day in Japan.

Buesing's favorites are kite trains - strings of 40 or more kites attached to a single line.

"I'm a tie-it-to-your-toe, sit-back-and-watch-it-fly kind of kite flier," she laughs.

Buesing likes to send museum visitors on their way with just one piece of advice: "Go fly a kite."

IF YOU GO

General information:

The World Kite Museum & Hall of Fame, 112 3rd St. N.W., is open Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. and by appointment. Starting in May, the museum will be open Friday through Monday, and daily in June, July and August. Admission is $1.50 for adults, $1 for seniors and children, and $4 for families. For information, call 360-642-4020. Web: http://www.artcom.com/museums/nv/sz/98631.htm .

For general information on visiting the Long Beach Peninsula, contact the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau, 800-451-2542. Web: http://www.funbeach.com .

Ongoing exhibits: On exhibit through October is a collection of 20 Indonesian kites donated by Grayland resident Terry Shields.

There's also a display on the Wright brothers' 1899 experiment with a kite to further their study of the science of flight.

Upcoming events: The Northwest Stunt Kite Championships are June 24-25. Fighter and sport kite competition, kite buggy rides and demonstrations, and free kite-flying lessons.

The annual Washington State International Kite Festival is August 21-27 in Long Beach. The weeklong extravaganza attracts 60,000-70,000 to Long Beach. Kite-flying demonstrations, nighttime lighted kite events, food booths, kite products and more.

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