Taking flight at Lake Antoine
New event to feature giant show kites floating over the ice

THE SCENE LAST Saturday at the Color The Wind Festival in Clear Lake, Iowa. Some of the same people involved in that massive kite-flying aerial display will be at Lake Antoine on Saturday for the inaugural Kites Over Awesome Lake Antoine, a free event organized by the Lake Antoine Park Partners, the Wisconsin Kiters Club and funded by local businesses. (Chris Barragy/Clear Lake (Iowa) Mirror-Reporter)
IRON MOUNTAIN — A new event appears cleared for takeoff Saturday at Lake Antoine.
Kites Over Awesome Lake Antoine — or the playful KOALA for short — will feature an exhibition of giant, elaborate show kites brought in by the Wisconsin Kiters Club.
Organized by the Lake Antoine Park Partners, it is thought to be the first of its kind to take place in the Upper Peninsula, said Barbara Kramer, chair of the event.
Kramer said the idea grew after her nephew in Two Rivers, Wis., kept raving about that 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 has been involved in have been posted on YouTube by Michael K. Sherman, one of the expert kite handlers and their videographer.
Thanks to various sponsors, Kites Over Awesome Lake Antoine will be free. The Wisconsin group actually insists no admission be charged, Kramer said, and the LAPP only has to cover their expenses such as hotel, meals and travel.
With the weather predicted to be sunny and above freezing, it should be near-perfect conditions to fly over the ice, Kramer said.
The day will start with a free Kids Kite-Building Workshop at 9 a.m. Vision Source is sponsoring the limited number of kite kits for children to assemble in Pavilion 1, fly on the lake’s ice at the park and then take home with them.
The giant kites will take to the air starting at 11 a.m., Kramer said. The work, expertise and strength involved to control these kites once aloft is impressive, she added, as they have to be anchored in the lake ice. They only are flown about 150 to 200 feet in the air.
“The strain on these kites is extreme,” Kramer said.
Because of the risk factor, no motorized vehicles will be allowed on Lake Antoine during the event, as anyone who potentially drives through one of the kite lines could be severely injured or killed. Snowmobile parking also is being suspended, Kramer said. Law enforcement will be present to make sure everyone abides by the restrictions.
But children will be able to get on the ice for a kite candy drop by Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group put together by Carrie Toretta-Partello.
This is a family-friendly event, with no alcohol, Kramer said. But hot food will be available for purchase from the Strong Tower Church group starting at 11 a.m. in Pavilion 1.
Pavilion 1 will also feature KOALA merchandise — pins, beanies and headbands — and a place to get warmed up if needed, until the event closes at 4 p.m.
Funds raised will be used to put on more family-based events such as the inaugural FallFest and Lights At The Lake in 2021.
Public parking will be available in the large lot at the park’s north end. But spaces might be tough to come by as the morning goes on — Kramer said she’s not sure what kind of crowd to expect, but the KOALA event social media site has received more than 30,000 hits.
“Just come out and enjoy,” Kramer said.
“We appreciate the ideas, manpower and donations from businesses in our community,” LAPP board treasurer Ann Hruska said. Additional 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.