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Selling kites is one man's hobby, business and ministry

Three years ago pastoral major Tim Macurdy stood on a beach and watched a kite dance in the sky. The kite's tricks fascinated him. Macurdy was hooked.

Since that day three years ago, Macurdy has become an expert on kites. Macurdy owns 12 of his own stunt kites and is a distributor for Dodd Gross, a master kite flier. For three years, Macurdy has run his small kite business, "Air Traffic Kites," out of his home.

He gains most of his customers by simply flying his kites. "People see me flying a kite and they say, 'Wow. I didn't know you could do that with a kite,'" Macurdy said.

Macurdy loves the quality family time kite-flying provides. His sons Christopher, 12, and Matthew, 10, both have their own kites and love to go flying with their dad. Macurdy's daughter, Lindsay, 6, just received her first kite. Even the youngest son, 22-month-old Kyle, has flown a kite. "It's a family thing, and our distributors are more than glad to work with us. They know that we're doing it right," Macurdy said.

By "doing it right," Macurdy means that when he sells a person a kite, he takes the time to teach him or her how to fly it. He makes sure to show the person how to assemble the kite and disassemble it. "The big stores can't take the time to teach people how to fly the kites," Macurdy said. Macurdy said that by doing the things other kite sellers neglect, his business is a great witness to people.

Macurdy's kites range in size from 3-and-a-half to 7 feet. The kites Macurdy flies are not the kites usually seen on the beach. His kites are built to do tricks and stunts.

For $100, Macurdy can supply a person with "all the kite a regular person would need to have," he said. Some names of the kites are First Step, Rainbow Jam, Precision, Omega XS and Black Hole Star Sister.

One of the things Macurdy looked for in a distributor was high quality at a low price. Kites are available through other distributors for $30 to $40, but they need 8-mph winds to fly. All of Macurdy's kites, although a bit more expensive, will fly in 3-mph winds.

Although Macurdy likes selling kites, he enjoys flying them more. "I think because it's free," he said. "Once you get your kite, you can fly and it's free."