25/09/2026
๐๐ข๐จ๐ก๐ง๐๐ข๐ช๐ก ๐ง๐ข ๐๐ข๐ก๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐ข๐ก!
๐๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ โ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ช
As we count down to the AKA Convention in Muncie, we're introducing you to some of the people you'll meet there. Not necessarily the famous names, but the people you may have passed in a convention hallway, stood beside on a flying field, or sat next to at the banquet without ever knowing their story.
๐ ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ด๐ด๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ผ๐.
Peggy is a board-certified music therapist who retired in May after serving as Senior Lecturer in Music Therapy at Purdue University Fort Wayne. She's also a kiteflier. Her Purdue biography lists flying kites with her husband, Jay, among the things she enjoys outside of work. And while Peggy has never built a kite, she has found some interesting ways to bring kites into other parts of her life.
While teaching Purdue's Creative Arts, Health and Wellness class, Peggy incorporated kiteflying into the curriculum. With her own money, she purchased a Tyvek sled kite for each student from her friends Jon and Marieanne Trennepohl of Kites & Fun Things. The students took the white sails home to decorate them, then returned to class, where Peggy helped them add spars, bridles, and flying line. The entire class then headed outside to fly their creations.
There was a purpose behind the afternoon. Peggy explained that the class helped students learn and practice skills for dealing with stress, and the kiteflying experience combined two techniques discussed in class: being creative and getting in touch with nature.
That connection makes even more sense when you learn about Peggy's professional life. Much of her work in music therapy has involved communication. She has presented professionally on improving communication skills for people with autism, techniques for working with nonverbal clients, and alternative methods of communication. Purdue lists working with nonverbal clients among her areas of specialization.
In 2010, Peggy and fellow music therapist Shauna Rupert also began recitals that give clients with special needs an opportunity to perform and demonstrate what they have learned. Peggy explained the idea this way: โWe have recitals for students who are studying music so they can show their skills, so why not allow that for people with disabilities as well?โ
But Peggy's connection between communication and kiting didn't stop when she left the classroom.
If you've attended kite festivals around the Midwest, you may have seen Peggy walking around with a microphone in her hand. There's a photograph accompanying this story showing Peggy with former AKA President Barbara Freeberg Meyer at Two Rivers High School. Its caption reads simply: โRoving reporter at work.โ
Now we know the story behind it.
Jay, a former broadcaster, began receiving invitations to serve as the PA announcer at kite festivals. Often the large show kites were flying some distance from his announcing position near the kite ballet field. Jay wanted the audience to hear from the people putting those kites into the sky, so he came up with a solution: send Peggy out with a microphone.
Peggy would head to the show-kite field with a microphone connected to her iPhone and interview the flyers about what they had in the air. She would send the resulting audio files back to Jay by text message. Jay would connect his phone to the festival sound system and play Peggy's interviews for the audience between kite ballet performances.
Peggy has served as the โroving reporterโ at Kites Over Lake Michigan in Two Rivers, Wisconsin; Fly-A-Kite Fest in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the Lyon Township Kite Festival in New Hudson, Michigan; and the Route 66 Kite Festival in Pontiac, Illinois.
And that's where Peggy's story suddenly connects beautifully with what we're trying to accomplish with Featured Flyers.
๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ด๐ด๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐.
Jay stayed behind the microphone at the announcer's booth while Peggy walked across the kite field, found the people behind the kites, asked them questions, and sent their voices back for Jay to share with the crowd.
Together, they helped the rest of us hear the stories behind the kites.
๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐'๐ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ด๐ด๐'๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป.
We spend years together at festivals and conventions. We recognize faces, recognize kites, wave across flying fields, and sit beside one another at banquets. But how often do we stop long enough to learn about the person holding the other end of the line?
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐'๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐.
So when you see Peggy in Muncie, introduce yourself. Ask her about music therapy. Ask her about taking a college class kiteflying. Ask her about being the โroving reporterโ and some of the kitefliers she's interviewed over the years.
Or turn the microphone around and ask Peggy the question at the heart of this entire series:
โ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ, ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ'๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐ฎ?โ
Then stick out your hand, welcome one of those familiar faces you've perhaps never really known and, just for fun, ask for her autograph.
She'll know why.
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ!
-sf
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American Kitefliers Association
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