Twelve years have passed since the Up, Up, and Away Kite Club started, but the club still goes on with all the followers and kite flyers as the club would have hoped for.
You can see the club’s kites from miles away as they fly over the north side of the Seal Beach Pier every second Sunday of each month, but you will probably spot a few club members out by the water on any given Sunday.
“Everyone in the kite club family is very close to everyone that is there,” said Janis Sabic, president of the Up, Up, and Away Kite Club in Seal Beach.
The kite club followers have become close from all the hours spent together along the beach doing what the club is set out to do, fly kites and share their love of kites with others in the community.
“To see the joy on a child’s face when you teach them to fly a kite is just amazing,” said Sabic.
The kite club offers family fun and entertainment by the beach. All you need is a kite and a little extra time out of your usual Sundays.
“The support you have in the club is phenomenal,” Sabic said.
A year and a half-ago Sabic’s husband was diagnosed with cancer. For eight months Sabic focused all her attention on her husband and spent most of her time trying to get him well again.
The kite club was their greatest supporter, sending her family positive e-mails and get well wishes while Sabic’s husband was going through treatment.
“I couldn’t have done the eight months of treatment without their love and embrace,” said Sabic.
Sabic soon received the news that her husband was cancer-free.
When she returned to kite flying on Sundays with the club, she was greeted with love and happiness.
One kite festival in particular changed the way Sabic saw the kite club forever.
At the festival, one of the kite club members gave Sabic a kite and told Sabic to give it to someone she thought really wanted and needed it.
There was a little boy there at the festival that was fascinated with kites. He asked question after question and played with the club’s kites for over three hours. He loved it.
The boy later asked Sabic where he could get a kite of his own. Sabic could tell the boy did not have a lot and so she thought he would be the perfect owner of the donated kite. He was.
The boy and his aunt came back to the club on a different day and told Sabic that he had slept with the kite in his bed, that when he left the house he would hang it on his wall, and he had even improved in his reading skills. The club members bawled their heads off and knew they had done something that really made a difference.
“I hope to see the club stay together and for the members to keep enjoying kite flying,” said Sabic.
