The Brookings Optimist Club is again giving us a great opportunity and enjoy a great summer activiity — the Brookings Kite Festival — this weekend.
Participants will be a chance to see the work of professional kite fliers fill the skies with their colorful acrobatics. It represents creativity, family fun and the joy of spending time time outdoors with neighbors.
Professional kite fliers will be on hand to share their art.
And the there is no admission for the family-friendly event, with plenty of activities for the young ones.
The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Fishback Soccer Complex. The event will also feature a special Saturday night lighted show at 8:30 p.m..
The festival showcases the great community spirit of the Brookings Optimist Club as the volunteers are creating an event that welcomes residents and visitors to the area.
Brookings Optimist Club member Sally Damm, a key organizer for the event, said typically the event draws about 500 kids and 1,000 adults during the two-day event.
She said she there are 15 to 20 club volunteers who give of their time to help make the event a success.
Damm said the Optimist Club sponsors the event “to get the kids out and away from the screens” and spend quality time with their families in a great environment. “They learn about physics and math and atmosphere and how kites fly — what it takes to get the kites up in the sky. So it’s a great learning experience for them and they can buy their own kites and have a great time.”
Damm said that the kite-flying experts come from all over the country — North Dakota, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon and Wisconsin.
Damm said the professional kite fliers have kites as small as a traditional kites that are about 3 feet long to the largest one that is 120 feet and about 500 pounds.
Damm said, “We invite the community out to spend a day with their loved ones and meet new friends and bring their own chairs and have fun.”
In an age when screens often dominate our attention, the sight of children and adults looking upward together is refreshing. The festival encourages families to unplug, enjoy fresh air and participate in an activity that is timeless and accessible. Whether someone arrives with a professionally designed stunt kite or a homemade creation crafted at the kitchen table, everyone shares the same sky.
The act of flying a kite teaches patience, creativity, and an appreciation for nature’s forces. It creates memories that can last far longer than the event itself.
Running to recognition
Simeon Birnbaum is helping to put South Dakota on the map. Could he elevate the state’s running culture, too?
The native of Rapid City was a high school megastar. After all, it’s not easy to secure a spot on the University of Oregon’s track and cross country teams, but he has exceeded expectations in his junior season.
He shattered the NCAA 1500-meter record (the more commonly run metric equivalent of the mile) by not only becoming the first collegian to run under three minutes and 33 seconds but also becoming the first to run under three minutes and 32 seconds, with his 3:31.69 mark at an otherwise ho-hum home meet.
More importantly, last weekend, he won his first NCAA title. In doing so, he became the first NCAA 1500-meter record holder since 1981 to win the NCAA 1500-meter title in the same season that he broke the record. With his signature sunglasses, Birnbaum’s sort of a new-age version of Oregon legend Steve Prefontaine, albeit as a middle distance runner.
Birnbaum is hardly the only South Dakota track star. Even narrowing our focus to distance runners from the state in the class of 2026, Mikah Peters is heading to Iowa State and Ellie Maddox to Duke, Griffin Smith is joining South Dakota State’s regional powerhouse program, and the Sioux Falls Lincoln boys placed sixth at Nike Cross Nationals last fall.
If you’re inspired by Birnbaum making history but your amateur days are over, fear not. There are plenty of road races in Brookings County and the surrounding area this summer and over the coming months.
The Harvey Mills Longest Day 10k (6.2 miles), at 8 a.m. June 20, is fast approaching and allows day-of registration. Later in the summer, runners can take on the Oakwood Lakes Trail Run (with the choice of 4 miles or 8 miles) and the Predictor Mile for those looking for something shorter and speedier.
Then there’s fall tentpole events like the Jack 15 (the oldest road race in the Midwest) on Sept. 19, the Sioux Falls Marathon on Sept. 20 and the Brookings Marathon on Oct. 3. More information can be found at prairiestriders.net.
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