Near Nellysford
Nelson County, Virginia
All photos ©2009 NCL Magazine
The sky sometimes looked as though it might rain and the temperatures were not exactly Spring like as a cool and gusty northerly wind blew. But, the crazy weather didn’t stop lots of folks from turning out for the first Rockfish Valley Kite Festival this past Saturday just south of Nellysford, Virginia “I don’t think it’s snowed today, but it’s done everything else,” Peter Agelasto chuckles. Peter founded The Rockfish Valley Foundation that organized the event.
Thanks to Ann Strober and Yvette Stafford for grabbing some of these shots. ” I used to have kites when I was living in Savannah and we would fly them all the time,” says Richard Averitt of Nellysford. He and his family came out Saturday to fly kites at the festival. One of the kites he was flying with son Quinn was a stunt kite named The Cherry Bomb. “It’s pretty easy to fly and it doesn’t need a lot of wind, and it can take a lot of crashes, which is why we have it,” Richard laughs.
“Our goal is to bring the community together. And what better way to learn about the weather than by flying a kite. Benjamin Franklin taught us a thing or two about that,” Peter continues. He and his wife Betsy were part of a large kit flying organization years ago in Virginia Beach. Peter hopes to create similar enthusiasm here with the kite festival.