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Post by malcolmf on Jul 22, 2019 14:39:34 GMT
Whilst at Brogdale on Sunday, there was a discussion around venue for this coming Sunday, which suggested the Lade. Gareth then announced he would be on his travels, whilst we are unsure if Steve and Sue, Mike and Barbara will be back from their own travels. I do not wish to travel all the way to the Lade if it is only Peter H, and I, along with possibly Simon H and Laura who would have to travel anyway as they live some way away from most of our venues. Over to members for discussion.
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Post by barbara on Jul 23, 2019 10:17:21 GMT
We are otherwise busy on 28th, different travels
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Post by peter on Jul 24, 2019 8:02:56 GMT
I'm happy to accommodate anywhere if there are Flyers my travelling to the site will help but, like Malcolm, I can't see the point of travelling miles for no reason. I wish all our regular supporters would put up a message saying their availability so that we can better decide where to fly. There were seven members that flew at Brogdale; where will those seven be on Sunday? Other members; just a quick message, "'yes I/we are' or 'no I/we are not' available this weekend".
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Post by bazjan on Jul 24, 2019 8:59:57 GMT
Peter - I appreciate the frustration you feel about lack of response from members.
However whilst some of us go with the flow, that is - have no preference, so wait to see what venue is selected and then decide whether to attend, others have family, other interests/commitments which call upon their time and at this time of year many are taking holidays.
In an ideal world members would post their choice at the start of the week, in reality life takes over, unexpected things happen, the intent to respond gets forgotten and the weather is not always as we would wish.
I think we need to remember our motto - FLY FOR FUN.
Janet
PS We will be cycling the last day of The Tour de France !!!!
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Post by peter on Jul 24, 2019 15:57:12 GMT
It would appear that my 'encouragement' to get early ideas of where to fly rather than "wait to see what venue is selected and then decide whether to attend" is unwelcome so, from now on I will refrain from contributing on the 'next fly-in' threads. I will continue to fly my kites and if anyone wants to know where I will be or wishes to join me then please send me a pm.
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Post by malcolmf on Jul 24, 2019 17:03:20 GMT
Now Now children, no throwing toys out of the pram.
To a degreee I agree with comments made by Peter and Bazjan.
There appears to be a hard core of members who fly nearly every week of the year, and I know Peter is exceptionally passionate about flying kites and promoting kiting and Kent Kite Flyers in particular.
This hard core are the ones who normally agree a venue, and although The Lade was mentioned in my original posting it does not seem to have spark any responses except from Peter about where to fly.
I agree with Bazjan, that we all have our own personal lives, and some members will just go with the flow or not.
We have over 40 members and although some of those have become non-flyers due to age and/or ill health, it sill leaves a number of members who fly occassionally and I count myself as one of those due to my personal live and the work I do for KKF. I would like to fly most weekends during the spring/summer/autumn months but is is not always possible. I certainly have not fulfill my hope of flying during on weekdays since retiring from work some 5 years ago.
I believe Peter was just trying to encourage some of the occassional kite flyers to take part in the discussions about a venue so extending the circle from the hard core group of members.
I have decided if nothing is posted on the Monday after a fly-in I will commence the post for the following week and will make a decision by Friday of each week, if nothing is decided by then.
Is it that we have too many club flys nad that members would prefer to have a monthly club meet rather than weekly.
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Post by malcolmf on Jul 24, 2019 17:05:13 GMT
Following my last post I am making a decision of the club fly-in will be either Palm Bay or St. Mildreds( Sunken Gardens) once I have checked what is happening in Margate this weekend.I will issue a final decision on Friday.
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Post by Gareth Williams on Jul 24, 2019 22:00:28 GMT
A little history lesson...
Many years ago there was Canterbury. We flew there once a month. Then along came Ashford and we flew there once a month too. So now we had two fly-ins each month. Ultimately we stopped flying in Ashford, so were back to a single fly-in per month.
A couple of us more enthusiastic amateurs took to organising our own fly-ins on the weekends when the club didn't have a meeting. We would phone or text and agree a location and go and fly some kites. It was felt that this shouldn't be exclusive so we invited all club members to come and join us if they wanted. No pressure, but all were welcome. Eventually we stopped the regular monthly fly-in and had impromptu meetings every weekend.
This approach is not ideal. Members cannot plan around a regular fly-in at a specified location with increased height clearance. But it does mean we manage to fly countrywide. We did dabble briefly with regular monthly meetings at Brogdale, but these became largely unsupported for a variety of reasons. The Brogdale experience shows that we cannot please everyone with the chosen site. In the end we pleased no-one.
We regularly have discussions at the AGM about finding new flying sites, but perhaps our problem is that we need to find a home. The weekly fly-ins were only ever there for those who wanted to fly more regularly to meet and fly with some people. They were never intended to replace the monthly club fly, but that is what happened. Perhaps it's time to re-instate the monthly club fly-in at a fixed location.
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Post by evets on Jul 25, 2019 8:17:22 GMT
A little history lesson... Many years ago there was Canterbury. We flew there once a month. Then along came Ashford and we flew there once a month too. So now we had two fly-ins each month. Ultimately we stopped flying in Ashford, so were back to a single fly-in per month. A couple of us more enthusiastic amateurs took to organising our own fly-ins on the weekends when the club didn't have a meeting. We would phone or text and agree a location and go and fly some kites. It was felt that this shouldn't be exclusive so we invited all club members to come and join us if they wanted. No pressure, but all were welcome. Eventually we stopped the regular monthly fly-in and had impromptu meetings every weekend. This approach is not ideal. Members cannot plan around a regular fly-in at a specified location with increased height clearance. But it does mean we manage to fly countrywide. We did dabble briefly with regular monthly meetings at Brogdale, but these became largely unsupported for a variety of reasons. The Brogdale experience shows that we cannot please everyone with the chosen site. In the end we pleased no-one. We regularly have discussions at the AGM about finding new flying sites, but perhaps our problem is that we need to find a home. The weekly fly-ins were only ever there for those who wanted to fly more regularly to meet and fly with some people. They were never intended to replace the monthly club fly, but that is what happened. Perhaps it's time to re-instate the monthly club fly-in at a fixed location. Thanks for the reminder of the history Gareth, I walked past the Rough Common site the other day and thought of sneaking in to fly but decided not to. Whilst away at the Shropshire Festival M, B and I were talking about the need for 'A Home' but did not come up with any firm location. I hope to get over to Thanet at some point on Sunday.
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Post by Gareth Williams on Jul 25, 2019 8:44:36 GMT
The problem of a home is a tricky one. Because the membership is spread far and wide, somewhere in central Kent makes most sense, as it annoys everyone in equal proportions. It then becomes es a challenge to find somewhere suitable and accessible, ideally with facilities. Now, if the club was to affiliate with Sellinge Sports and Social...
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Post by malcolmf on Jul 25, 2019 9:36:39 GMT
The problem of a home is a tricky one. Because the membership is spread far and wide, somewhere in central Kent makes most sense, as it annoys everyone in equal proportions. It then becomes es a challenge to find somewhere suitable and accessible, ideally with facilities. Now, if the club was to affiliate with Sellinge Sports and Social... Sellinge was on my mind as well,or somewhere very similar with the facilities. But obviously at Sellindge there would be some restrictions due to there being a football club based there, and would be of interest to the local public.
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Post by malcolmf on Jul 26, 2019 15:10:41 GMT
Following my last post I am making a decision of the club fly-in will be either Palm Bay or St. Mildreds( Sunken Gardens) once I have checked what is happening in Margate this weekend.I will issue a final decision on Friday. . Definitely going for Palm Bay Cliftonville Margate this coming Sunday from around 12 noon. The forecast is for possibly rain up to and around mid-day ,and then clearing up nicely so I will be going there for around 12.30
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Post by malcolmf on Jul 28, 2019 8:53:38 GMT
rained most of Saturday and we'll into night, but gave when I got up it was not raining and path was dry. It is overcast and ground will be wet, but at least so far no further rain. So will be up at Palm Bay around 12.30
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Post by rokbottom on Jul 28, 2019 10:24:22 GMT
I was planning on coming on coming but I have have had a Megrain and I feel rough.
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Post by ekim on Jul 28, 2019 11:48:33 GMT
Hope you all have a good fly-in and the weather stays good for you. Tight lines. Mike
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