Lehigh valley kite Society

---

Since LVKS was formed in 1991, it had grown into one of the formidable kite clubs in the USA. We set the nationwide standard in kids kite building, competition, innovative ground and aerial displays and camaraderie among kite fliers.

Kite Building - Over 20,000 pocket sled kites have been built in our year-round kids kitebuilding workshops. Local community groups as well as distant kiting events hosted kitebuilding sessions, where kids of all ages built and flew their own kites. Some the places LVKS built kids kites -- Boy and Girl Scouts, schools, Longwood Gardens, The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pa, Lehigh Valley Mall and kiting events for Sky Festival Productions at Wildwood, N.J., Asbury Park, N.J., The Rockaways, N.Y., Philadelphia, Pa., Ocean City, Md. and Liberty State Park, N.J. among many others.
Kite Day in the Park - The first Saturday of May, LVKS held its annual kite festival at Louise Moore Park in Bethlehem Township, PA. Thousands of participants and spectators took advantage of a spring day to enjoy the outdoors and fly their kites. This all began when an ad appeared in the local paper asking for help to create a kite festival for Northampton County in the Spring of 1991. Andy Gelinas, LVKS founder and President Emeritus, answered the ad, and with help from his family, co-workers and friends fabricated the first annual "Kite Day in the Park" at Louise Moore Park, Bethlehem Township, PA. Through the years this festival had been attended by thousands of folks. This festival endured through the Spring of 2007 under LVKS.
Competition Flying - Another of the many facets of kite flying, LVKS had two sport kite competition teams, the Valli Girlz (Karianne and Julie Gelinas, Kris Keeler and Emily Kimble) and the Valli Boyz (Bill Beneker and Tim and Karen Waters) both of which reached the masters level. There were also individual members who have competed (Rich Koons, Steve Millner, Paul Keeler, Ruth Palifrone, Jason Robins and Edna Bertholf).
Kite Building Competitions- These competitions were held at major festivals and were a large part of LVKS. Kite builders compete at festivals with their expertise in building and flying their homemade kites. They are judged on beauty, construction and flight. To name a few Tony Reiser, Walter Wolf Jr., Todd Little, Cliff and Joyce Quinn, James Ribar, Paul Keeler, Molly and Ron Dunn, Glen and Tanna Haynes, Scott Spencer and Andy Gelinas.
Club Projects and LVKS Folks - Various projects helped LVKS promote kiting through a group effort while improving their building techniques. Things were designed and built as a group effort: Rokakkus, A Quilted Style Flag, Feather Flags, Cabanas and much much more. To See some of LVKS favorite projects and see write ups from members "hit" buttons on left console.
New Club - By the End of 2007 LVKS had no one interested in "spearheading" LVKS into 2008. The same few people had been doing all the work and were tired. LVKS was about to fold. Three years earlier in 2004, Andy Gelinas had moved about an hour North to East Stroudsburg, Pa. Although still very active in LVKS, and feeling unhappy with the demise of the club, he made an offer to the LVKS Board to start a new kite club to the North and allow LVKS to merge into the new club. This offer was accepted unanimously. In February 2008 LVKS officially became part of the newly formed "Pocono Kite Symphony". Our intent is to keep the LVKS name viable through mixed ground displays (both LVKS and PKS), keep up the tradition of kids kite building that LVKS was so adept at, and an attempt to keep kiting alive in Eastern Pennsylvania. Now that you know " WHERE WE WERE"---"Hit" the "PKS" button to see "WHERE WE ARE" now.