John Davenport’s presence on Westport’s Cherry and Webb beach is easy to notice. His calling card, a massive array of whimsical, colorful kites drifting lazily in the sea breeze, pinpoints his location from April till October.
With hand-made appliqué banners set firmly in the sand to mark off the edges of his “flying field,” he sits happily in a lawn chair, ready to answer questions from curious or admiring beach-goers about the soft fabric wonders floating above him. Born and raised in Somerset, Mr. Davenport recalled coming to Westport since 1956 when his family spent time at his mother’s family cottage on Cadman’s Neck. He’s lived in Westport full time since 1971. The first place he purchased was Al Lees, Jr.’s Sea Swing Farm on Old Horseneck Road. He currently lives on Cadman’s Neck in a home his late father built.
A graduate of MA College of Pharmacy in Boston, Mr. Davenport, is a long-term care consultant for PharMerica of Warwick, RI. A chance walk down Thames Street near one of his work sites in Newport brought him to the High Flyers Kite Company. The colorful displays and the owner’s enthusiasm and knowledge of the hobby hooked Mr. Davenport. He’s been flying kites “religiously” since 1987.
First summers in Westport
“We kids all had boats and would zoom around, go quahogging, waterskiiing, and generally have a good time around my mother’s family summer cottage. This place just gets in your blood.”
First kites
“We had big cemetery behind our house in Somerset and we’d fly paper kites off fishing poles with hundreds of feet of line on them. Sometimes kites got so far away we never got them back.”
Day job
“Federal law states that every long-term care facility has to have a consultant pharmacist. When PharMerica supplies medications to a facility, they package me with the deal so I come along with the contract. I’ve been with PharMerica for over twenty years.”
Kites as magnets
“I’ve been flying kites in Westport for a good ten years. Put up a kite and it puts a smile on people’s faces. They come right over, it’s like a magnet. They ask did I build it, where I came up with the idea and the next thing you know I’m preaching the value of kites. ”
The kite man
“Kids will see me unloading my car and you’ll hear them shout, ‘Look, mommy, there’s the kite man!’ I’m known as the ‘Kite Man of Westport Beach.’”
Westport beach ideal for kite flying
“As the land heats up, the cool air from the ocean starts this heat pump so you get a stable, reliable southwest wind around noon. Since the beach faces SW if anything happens to your kite you can always recover it on land. A salt water landing would ruin a kite. The ideal wind is SW 10 - 12 mph.”
What you like about Westport
“Where else do you have three choices how to get to the beach on a summer morning - by bike, by boat, or by car!”
Materials used for kites
“They’re made out of rip stop nylon, basically in two weights, 3/4 oz. for light winds and 1.5 oz. for durability in stronger winds. I’ve made animal kites -frogs to elephants- rainbow kites, kites that spin, and a revolver kite.”
Friendships made
“I’ve made many friends. We send Christmas cards and email each other about our projects and send pictures of our latest creations.”
A great chance to combine two hobbies
“I’m a big civil war buff and have been to most of the civil war battlefields. Next year the American Kitefliers Association is going to have its grand national festival in Gettysburg PA. I will work all this winter to build a kites that have a North/South theme. All the kites flying under my main lift kite will be war related - cannons, cannonballs, flags, rifles and whatever else I can think of.”
Other hobbies
“One of my other favorites is astronomy. I belong to Astronomical Association of Southern New England.”
An emotional 9/11/01 experience
“I think we all felt a sense of desperation. I felt the need to fly kites so I packed up every single one of my red white blue kites and went to the beach and put up this huge red, white, and blue display. National pride overwhelmed me. People came up to me and said thank you. It was the most emotional time I've ever had flying kites.”
New Year’s Fly in Newport
“Members of the region’s American Kitefliers Association show up in Newport no mater what the weather. The age-old story is that when you’re flying a kite you’re taking all your troubles and attaching them to the kite and watching the wind carry them away. When you pull the kite back down it’s the start of a new year.”
Life Lesson
“It’s a lesson in life that people have to learn to find a hobby that gets the stress right out of their lives. Kite flying has done that for me and done it for many other adults.”
Comments