Kites and Marigolds – Chula Vista Community Event

On November 1st, 2025. The San Diego Kite Club participated in a day of flying for Kites and Marigolds. This event helped to celebrate the Mexican and Guatemalan Día de los Muertos and Barriletes Gigantes traditions. The event, hosted by Chula Vista Parks & Recreation, involved creating paper marigolds and decorating kites. The craft items feature colorful kites and fluffy marigold flowers, used for home or festive decor. Frank Carson was a lead organizer of the event.  They are doing work to help bring activities to an under served area that has had some historical crime in the local neighborhood. The city cleaned up the park, revamped things in the area and hired park rangers to serve the area. This type of event is important for the locals. It’s also important for us to get involved with such events.

The club volunteers are listed below:
Shawn Farrow
Stacey Sheets
Skip “Charlie” Walton
‘Niterider” Dave Soutar  (current Vice Prez)
Rick Spurgeon (Web Master)

The wind was light but enough to fly and see smiling faces. With plenty of helping hands around everyone got to fly. This is the first year of what should continue as a annual event. The club is offering to participate again next year. We hope to see this return.  Club member Skip wrote…

The “Kites and Magnolias” event at Chula Vista Parks and Recreation Park was a resounding success. Despite an early start, the event proceeded smoothly. The small sled kites provided for the children performed exceptionally well, even in minimal wind conditions, resulting in a sky filled with colorful kites and joyful participants. Many attendees, including myself, brought their own kites, further enhancing the visual spectacle. The display of Rick’s miniature kites was particularly captivating. It was heartwarming to witness the children’s delight, especially two young girls who expertly flew their kites with professional grace. Members of the kite club and I assisted the children in launching their kites, and at one point, the sky was adorned with a multitude of children’s kites. Parks and Recreation staff also actively participated, flying kites to impressive heights. Overall, it was a highly enjoyable and well-received event.