Superman Meets California's Incredible Kite Guy

By C. MacDonald

HUNTINGTON BEACH--Superman, who knows a thing or two about flying, swooped into Bella Terra Mall recently to meet a legendary kiteman, who was entertaining kids about the colorful wonders of the sky. Superman (actually 5-year-old Troy Senturk of Huntington Beach dressed up as his hero) enjoyed everything Dave The Kite Guy” Shenkman had to say on the history of kites, how to design them, how to make your own and tips on how to best fly them safely.

No wonder, The Kite Guy” has educated and entertained more than 600,000 California grade school students from San Francisco to Sacramento to San Diego (and many places in-between) the past 25 years. I just love getting kids excited about kites,” he said. I average about 50 ‘Kites for Kids' shows at schools and other places every year.”

To the amazement of the wide-eyed youngsters, who hang on his every word, the energetic, passionate Shenkman establishes an incredible rapport with children, almost as if he was one of them. It's like he never grew up but found out the secret of life is to remain a kid, who likes to have fun, play games and fly kites. Perhaps his own education, while earning a BA in Speech Communications/Pathology at Cal State Fullerton, also helps him understand and talk to his fellow peers.”

Kite-making and flying is a wholesome, family-oriented alternative to video games and television,” said the son of Ron Shenkman, who served as mayor of both Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley. Maybe Ron once told Dave to go fly a kite.”

Kites can enhance the quality of life for every student. It builds character, creativity, confidence, courage and even gets kids to read more as they find out about the hobby's history.”

The 135 children, fascinated by his humorous demonstration, were provided with a simple way to have joy and escape from the hustle, bustle and stress of modern life. The kids were particularly thrilled with his Rev” kite, which was recently featured on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. It's the coolest flying kite in the history of the world, can fly up to 70mph, can fly forward, backward and even walk and run.”

The Rev” (short for Revolution) is made in San Diego. Other very colorful kites he showed were made in China and Japan. Following his presentation, he had kids come to a table and pick up the various components of a kite so they could assemble it themselves while The Kite Guy,” who is a father and family-man, patiently guided them through the process. They also all received string so they could fly it. Everything was free thanks to the generosity of Bella Terra.

The children were really educated and entertained,” said Karen Gee, Special Events Coordinator at Bella Terra. Dave has a way of capturing their attention.” You might say, he really reels them in,” just like the kites the proud kids made and will soon be doing!

In addition to schools and malls, he also has put on special demos for the Walt Disney Company, Lennar Homes, Shea Homes, The Irvine Company and Hyatt Regency.

When he's not out teaching, making and flying kites, you might catch Dave (and his equally fun regular employees-Grace, Jay and Brandon) at The Kite Connection on Huntington Beach Pier (kiteconnection.com, 714-536-3630).