We finally got a chance to air out the new Giant Melon Tube. Combined with a big Skyfoil, the effect was breathtaking! To put this photo in perspective, remember that the foil is more than 11 feet wide! We normally encourage fliers to use three of our big tube tails with larger foils. But that may be changing now. The Tubes are $250 while this Giant Melon sells for the same price. And of course, you only need one. That means you can fill a lot of sky for a lot less money. To get things started, wwew'll take an extra $75 off the price of a Lifter/Giant Melon Combo.

The Washington State International Kite Festival -- WSIKF -- starts today in Long Beach, Washington State. It is the largest kite event in the USA.

Since people are coming in from around the country and overseas as well, Susie and I decided to host an informal pre-event here in Oregon. Kevin Sanders and John Murray of Australia dropped in, Glen and Tanna Hayes, (two time AKA Grand Kitemaking Champion) joined us. And kite laundry wizards Charmayne and Bob Umbower drove down from Seattle. Good friends from Oregon also were in attendance.

We spent the afternoon at picturesque Proposal Rock beach, and then adjourned to the GKPI "estate" for a backyard "Braai". We ate and drank our way through a perfect Northwest evening. Then Monday, everyone headed north on the three hour trek up the Coast for Long Beach.

The Gomberg's plan to arrive at WSIKF on Thursday -- fashionably late but still in plenty of time for the main activities. On Saturday, we'll MC the annual Kite Museum Auction.

One of the Auction highlights will be Stormy Weather's Swift Victory kite, the kite that flew higher than any other kite in the 20th Century. This unique international orange 7.5 X 10.5 kite flew 12,340 feet as measured by Cassio altimeter and telescope triangulation measurements before the line broke. The paperwork and photos accompany the kite.

If you can't be at the auction, you can still bid on the kite. Send your maximum bid to the World Kite Museum, POBox 964, Long Beach, WA98631 by Friday, Aug. 25, 2000. The Museum will assign a bidder for you. Be sure to sign this with your official signature and include a phone number for verification plus bidding instructions.

That's all for now! Don't forget that we head for Europe at the end of August and the office will be closed for two weeks. We'll be checking our emails as often as the complexities of international communication allow...

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