On July 11th, 2026, the San Diego Kite Club celebrated 36 years as an organized club. Anyone in attendance would agree that the 36 year anniversary fly was a perfect day. The weather was excellent, the wind was non stop and right at the sweet spot for flying whatever your heart desired. Coronado Cays Park is an excellent place to fly. Besides that, the potluck was delicious, the fliers were happy and the meeting was filled with rewards and appreciation for all who make our club great.
Group photo taken by Jeremiah Kendle. He is a professional photographer who shows up to our largest events of the year. Check out his IG account called, Kendle Creative. Here are most of the people listed int he group photo.
Amy Tellio, Dauna Slater, Mark Smith, Maria Smith, Ron Lintz, Erin Quinn. Everett Greene, Eric Olaes, Kim Soebieck, Guy Butrum, Amanda Butrum, Don Fox, ruth Lawson, Pattie and Thomas Cassidy, Bob Crawford, Dan Willan, Robert and Carol Freed, Melina Kendle, Ryan Heredia, Kevin Heredia, Victor Heredia, Skip Walton, Dave Soutar, Diane and Rick Spurgeon, Nancy and Jack Graham, Russ and Laura Dickison, Ayla, Brooklyn, Nora, Ellie, Cristina Santa Maria, Ziggy Santa Maira, Ariel Santa Maria, Mark Quirmbach, Ray Miller, James Quinby, Jolly Roger, Dorian Deptuch, Jose Sainz, Scott Horvath, Jeff Halley, Chris Stiedemann and his family. There are a few names missing and will update accordingly.
The first 3 pilots on the field around 8AM were James “Flash” Quinby, Jolly Roger and Ziggy (behind the camera)
The guest of Honor Gail Lindsay arrived with her friend Donna from Yucipa. A big thank you to Donna for bringing Gail all the way out to San Diego.
Gail said “Had a great time with the San Diego Kite club. Perfect weather. Pictured here are Cristina Santa Maria, Erin Quinn and Gail Lindsay (Left to Right) with a couple kites I made years ago. Picture taken by Donna.”
For the readers, here is the general program of events that took place.
Morning – Fly Kites
11:30 am to 2:30 Registration Booth, Merchandise Booth & Silent Auction
12:00 PM – Potluck Lunch (we start eating at noon)
12:30 PM – Annual meeting
1:00 Pm – Fly more
The morning was eventful as people started to arrive in numbers. It’s safe to say we had approximately 80 people on the field during peak attendance. Since the wind showed itself early and never let up until nightfall, kites were constantly in motion, and we all enjoyed seeing a wide variety flying throughout the entire day.
Even before the crowd showed up, you could see Tom Klu and Rose Klu doing some volunteer work to help with the setup. Don Fox was setting up banners near the San Diego Kite Club canopy. James “Flash” Quinby, Jolly Roger, and Ziggy set up the merchandise booth, registration booth, and silent auction table.
This year, we featured our new San Diego Kite Club canopy, which served as our booth for member registration, merchandise, and the silent auction. Our group of volunteers did a fantastic job throughout the day, and we’re already discussing ways to improve this volunteer position for both the volunteers and attendees at our anniversary celebration. Thank you to everyone listed below for helping make the day a success.
Member Registration: Bob Crawford, Ron Lintz, Mark and Maria Smith
Merchandise Booth: Erin Quinn, Russ and Laura Dickison
Silent Auction Monitors: Carol and Robert Freed
Board Member Voting Monitor: Dan Willan
A big shoutout to the Cassidy family for providing the PA system. Patti, Thomas, and Stephen, thank you for helping make our event even better!
Potluck hour was delicious, with a wide variety of foods and flavors. There were plenty of beverages that never seemed to run out. Some of us have even come to expect certain club members who attend each year to bring their signature dish. We can always count on Dr. Vernon White to bring his salt and pepper chicken wings. We know Diane will be making her chili. Ziggy insists on bringing Horchata, and Eric Olaes typically brings fresh tuna. If you pay close attention, the Heredia family (owners of Kite Country) usually rolls through with the sweet treats. Thank you to everyone who pitched in.
There’s something special about breaking bread with the club. We have a chance to eat, talk, and make sure everyone is well nourished. The feeling of community and cooperation, as everyone comes together to satisfy each other’s appetites, is something truly special. The birthday cakes provided by the club were well received. Monica Fox is the official club cake lady. She helps to prepare and order the cake from a local spot called, Angela’s Eccentric Kitchen, located at 8925 Carlton Hills Blvd, Santee, CA 92071, (619-532-0762). You could hear people talking about how good the cake was. While we celebrated the clubs 36th year anniversary. We also got to share this moment with our club treasurer Don Fox. He not only serves the club as a long time member, current treasurer but he also represents our region as the district 12 regional director for the American Kitefliers Association. Happy birthday Don Fox and thanks for sharing the day with us.
The club anniversary meeting was led by Ziggy (Club President). His role as president was a two-year term that came to an end at this July anniversary. Oddly enough, Ziggy had never attended a club anniversary fly before he became president. So he had never experienced how club meetings were conducted. Much of what takes place during this meeting is a combination of Ziggy’s ideas about what he believes should be included, along with guidance from the previous president and our longer-term members. The main goal of the meeting is to recognize the achievements our club has accomplished, both individually and together. Gifts and awards went out to those who stepped out and stepped up for our club. Check out a sample of the Joel Scholz gifts we handed out.
The meeting consisted of an introduction, a Guest of Honor announcement for Gail Lindsay, presidential remarks, a few fun club exercises, a sponsor spotlight, a volunteer spotlight, board position elections, nominations, and a potential vote. Here are a few enjoyable highlights from the meeting.
- Gail Lindsay was recognized as the club’s Guest of Honor and received well-deserved recognition for her ongoing generosity and support of the San Diego Kite Club.
- The club exercise had great participation. Ziggy asked everyone to stand if they had been flying kites for more than 10, 20, 30, 40, or even 50+ years. Surprisingly, Victor Heredia (owner of Kite Country) was the last man standing with an incredible 80 years of kite flying experience! A legendary pilot, kite maker, store owner, and family man.
- The questions also brought out some fun and interesting answers. Who traveled from out of state? Kim Sobieck, Jorge Muett, and James “Flash” Quinby were just a few. Who traveled the farthest to be with us? James “Flash” Quinby from Oregon. Who volunteered for the club within the past 12 months? And, of course, who likes horchata? (That question received plenty of smiles!)
- Sponsor and Volunteer Spotlight details are provided below. As a club, we should always take the time to recognize and thank our volunteers and sponsors for everything they do. During the meeting, we presented one-year American Kitefliers Association awards to the top 12 volunteers from the past 12 months. We also handed out Joel Scholz Sky Delight Parrots to the volunteers who helped during the February work party.
- With great excitement for the entire club, we had new board member nomination and elected Erin Quinn as Equipment Manager, Glenn Meader as Webmaster, Fernando Vazquez as Assistant Webmaster, and Ziggy as returning Club President. Meanwhile, Don Fox remains club Treasurer and Niterider Dave Soutar remains club Vice President.
Thank you to everyone who has donated their time, talent, and support. You know who you are, and we will continue to recognize and celebrate your efforts for helping keep our club active and flying.
At the end of our meeting we had some speakers come up for an open mic opportunity. Ariel Santa Maria (Ziggy’s sister) spoke up, Dan Willian (Club Founder) shared some words, David Corning (Past President) helped to close out the meeting and Ziggy gave the final words. Rick Spurgeon shouted, “TIME FOR CAKE” and we got to it.
A message from President Ziggy.
“Hello to everyone who attended the 36 year anniversary fly. Thank you to our friends who couldn’t come and our family of kite fliers who are watching from far far way. You should all know, the San Diego Kite Club is a home for everyone to fly with. Keep us on your radar and share time flying with our amazing club members and community. We hope to see new faces and find new fliers. This anniversary was so special to me and my family. I feel extremely proud of our club as a whole. The history, the present and our future is absolutely bright. If you ever need us, please reach out.”
It’s photo time ladies and gentlemen.
Before dropping 100+ photos in your lap. We have news to share about what is happening on social media. If you use Instagram check out the links below. Otherwise, take a read anyways so you know what is happening.
Ariel Santa Maria (Ziggy’s sister) created an Instagram reel from our anniversary fly that has gotten a lot of attention. Our Instagram followers went from a couple hundred to nearly 700 followers from 1 reel posted. Thank you Ariel and for those of you who want to follower her, check out her Instagram account. If you want to see the reel she created, click here.
Additionally, we have a gallery of photos taken by Jeremiah Kendle. Check out his Instagram account Kendle Creative. Jeremiah also created a video of himself walking the field taking photos that I think everyone will enjoy. It’s his POV working the field for our benefit. Thank you Jeremiah, your work is amazing. To watch his video, click here.
Jeremiah’s Gallery (following this gallery are photos collected from attendees)
The photos taken below are come different attendees and pictures captured from our clubs Facebook group page. There are many faces not present in these photos and we would like to change that. If you have any photos you can share of the bday celebration, please send them and we will update this article. Additionally, if you see a name missing or misspelled in any photo caption, send us a notice and we will correct it.
