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Kite festival in Mineral Wells attracts hundreds

MINERAL WELLS — After two delays due to inclement weather in March and April, the ninth annual New Era Kite Festival drew several hundred people to Mineral Wells over two days.

The kite festival was held Saturday and Sunday under sunny and windy skies at New Era One Room School and Museum, on the campus of Mineral Wells Elementary School on West Virginia 14.

Organized by the New Era School Museum and the New Era Kite Club, the free festival featured concessions, inflatables, a train ride, tours of the historic school and kite safety and building classes.

Max Barker is president of the New Era One Room School Museum and of the kite club. He said the first kite festival grew out of the school museum program and organizers had so much fun with that, it has been growing each year since.

Proceeds from the kite festival benefit the school museum program, he said. The money raised from the fest generally goes to cover insurance costs for New Era School, but this year will mostly cover the cost of propane used to heat the old building in the winter.

This year’s long and snowy winter placed a larger burden than usual on the heating system, so the propane costs were higher than normal, Barker said. The first two dates for the kite fest, March 25 and April 8, both had to be canceled due to snow, he said.

“We picked a good weekend, it’s beautiful weather,” he said of the conditions Saturday and Sunday when temperatures reached into the 70s and 80s. “We had a good turnout (Saturday) with plenty of wind, which was a good thing on top of the sunny weather.”

The New Era One Room School is used throughout the school year to providing a living history experience for children in all grade levels. Barker said most of that occurs in the spring, especially in April and May.

“This whole week, there’s been a classroom in there all week from the various schools in the county and I believe there is some more scheduled coming up this month before school is out,” he said.

Shannon Shay, of Washington, W.Va., was making her first visit to the kite fest on Sunday with her children, Clare, 4, and Patrick, 2. She liked the event and hoped to come back in the future.

“I like it, it’s pretty exciting looking at all of the different types of kites they have out,” she said.

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