East Bay Kite Day

I have lived in East Bay long enough to know that Kite Day belongs to everyone and no one organizes it. You come when you come. The sky fills up.

Someone counted seventy-five kites at once around noon. The wind off the bay was good all day. Children ran across the grass holding string, faces up. Sixteen kites found trees. Eight went into the water. Three boaters went out and brought them back to shore without being asked, the way people here do things.

Mike O’Malley had his Hardware tent up before most families arrived. He was already smiling. “Kite day is my favorite event,” he said. “I get to be a kid again, and everyone’s fine with that.” All kites ten percent off. He meant it about the kid part.

There was face painting near the trees. Unicorns and sharks mostly, walking around on small faces the rest of the afternoon. The under-six relay ran three heats near the south end of the field. One false start. One fall. A finish that two families disputed for longer than necessary. Everyone got a ribbon.

Harborside Grille had cold draft and lobster rolls along the path. Pier Street Tacos held a line near the fountain from noon on.

I saw my daughter at the kite tent in the morning, holding up one with an astronaut on it. She has a kite at home. She bought this one anyway. Later I saw her at the Pier Street Tacos window with a basket, walking toward the fountain bench where Harold Gregory had been sitting since morning. She had promised him tacos somewhere in the comments online. She kept it. He enjoyed the company.

Kites remained in the sky late afternoon.

Kite Day this year was sponsored by the East Bay Rotary Club, Friends of the Lighthouse, Mel’s Over Easy, East Bay Hardware, and Brad’s Auto Repair.

– written by Mara Ko.