Organizer Chow Chong says goodbye to Kites Over Lake Michigan in Two Rivers

TWO RIVERS – Nearly 20 years ago, Chow Chong — who owned a kite-selling business in the city’s downtown — came up with an idea to bring folks to town.

“I went to kite-flying festivals in other areas, and I thought how cool it would be to bring one to Two Rivers,” Chong said. “At the time, people thought, ‘Yeah, what’s a kite festival but a few guys on the beach flying kites?’ I wanted them to see it’s so much more.”

Chong also wanted to help businesses like his own Unique Flying Objects, which opened at 2022 S. Washington St., in 2000. Shops were hurting as a result of road construction, and he was brainstorming ways to bring tourists to the area.

He launched the beloved Kites Over Lake Michigan, held first at Neshotah Beach and now at Two Rivers High School as Lake Michigan water levels have eaten up beach space.

The popular event grew from drawing crowds of 3,000 in 2005 to one that fills local hotels and attracts up to 30,000.

Despite its popularity, Chong has decided the festival will have its final flight this Labor Day weekend.

“I’m trying to make it the best one possible,” he told the Herald Times Reporter. “I love working on it, but it’s time to move on to the next thing.”

Making Manitowoc County: Chow Chong's Kites Over Lake Michigan a Labor Day weekend tradition in Two Rivers

His wife Kim retired in January, and Chong said they’d like to go camping and travel during the summer months — the time he’s usually busy planning the kite festival. And for many years, he was tied to the kite store during prime summer months.

He also closed his physical storefront in Two Rivers in 2022 and sold kites online, although he said he’s no longer doing that. Business was fine at the shop, he noted, but he struggled to find part-time employees or items to restock shelves after the pandemic.

Chong acknowledged he’d hoped to make it to 20 years before ending Kites Over Lake Michigan.

“That’s a nice round number,” he said. “But you know, it just really felt like it was time to move on to the next thing.”

He and the board considered handing the event off to other organizers, but Chong said that likely won’t happen.

“We thought, ‘Let’s go out on top,’” he said.

This year's event will take place Aug. 31 to Sept. 1 at Two Rivers High School, 4519 Lincoln Ave. Food and non-alcoholic beverages will be sold at the concession stand by local nonprofit service clubs.

Chong expects some strong emotions when this year’s event winds down.

“We’re very proud of how the festival evolved,” he said. “We learned something every year. We added elements that were successful and took away things that didn’t work.”

The board was selective about the kite flyers and shows allowed into the event, he said. He added something new each year to bring people back, and always tried to make it family friendly with kids' activities and make-your-own-kite sessions.

“Just exposing people to kite flying as an activity was great,” Chong said. “Kite flyers are very friendly, and I encourage people to go up to them and ask questions.”

Moving from the beach to the high school five years ago changed the vibe of the event, he said.

The high school provides more space, more parking and easier handicapped parking access and a better traffic flow. But they lost the feel of being on a beach, Chong acknowledged.

Two Rivers Main Street Director Jason Ring said Kites Over Lake Michigan was one of the first big events he helped with when he moved to the area as director of the Manitowoc Area Visitor and Convention Bureau 13 years ago.

“I got to experience it close up,” he said. “Working with Chow was amazing. Seeing the area’s natural resources of the beach and lake utilized for this was amazing, too. It was wonderful to see it become the spectacular event it is today.”

He said the community will miss the event — and he’s glad Chong and his wife will remain in the area.

“Chow might be small in stature, but he’s big in personality,” Ring said. “I wish him the best in retirement.”

Chong and Kim have friends in Two Rivers, and love the community. But they might visit a warmer climate in winter.

Final flight: Kites Over Lake Michigan to fly for last time Aug. 31-Sept. 1 in Two Rivers

A few years ago, Chong told the Herald Times Reporter he didn’t have a store or giant kite festival in mind when he came to the United States from Malaysia in 1980 to attend the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

He moved to the Frozen Tundra not because he was eager for long winters, but because a friend from home also was enrolled here. The choice was Wisconsin or Arizona State, Chong recalled, and when he visited Arizona in August, the heat index was more than 100.

“I thought, ‘I am not moving to a place hotter than home,’” said the genial Chong, in his usual T-shirt, flip flops and ponytail. “And it was really exciting when the first snow fell. I had never seen snow, never experienced it. By the second year, it was not so exciting anymore.”

He graduated with a business and marketing degree, and he and Kim, who met in college, moved to Arizona to be near her parents. They both found work a short time after relocating, and he began his march up the Seagram corporate ladder.

“We sold everything and packed what we had into a little two-door car,” he said. “And my famous parting words were, ‘I’m never moving back to a place this cold again.’”

But as life happened, he and Kim found themselves living in Texas. While on vacation, they stopped at numerous shops in Galveston, including a kite store.

“They had lots of colorful things,” Chong said. “They had windsocks, my wife loves windsocks. We walked in and walked out with $150 worth of stuff.”

He wanted to be his own boss, and by 2000, Kim was ready to come back to Wisconsin.

“I said if we come back, I want to be by the water,” he said. “You always seek the water.”

So, he took a few days off from work and the couple stayed at a hotel in the Manitowoc area, driving along the Lake Michigan coast looking for a place to open a kite store. They at first thought of Door County and the thousands of tourists it attracts, but changed their minds when they saw Fish Creek is home to a similar store.

“We went back to Texas and I gave my notice,” Chong recalled. “I gave up a lot. I had a really good job. I had a car, I never had to buy a car, I never had to pay for gas. It was a learning curve.”

Nonetheless, the couple packed up their belongings in the RV, settled in Two Rivers, and opened Unique Flying Objects.

“The first few weeks were scary, we had no idea what we were doing,” Chong said. “But I always had confidence in my ability to sell. So at first we put all the proceeds from sales and profits back into merchandise, our selections grew. People were also very good about coming in and supporting a new business.”

He chose Labor Day weekend for Kites Over Lake Michigan because a hotel owner said rooms never fill up then. Today, that’s no longer a problem, as folks visit from all over the U.S. for the event.

Flying kites, of course, depends on the weather.

“We have always had at least one great day,” Chong said. “We’ve had rain. We’ve had fog. We’ve had no wind. We’ve had everything in between. The only thing we have not had is snow. We just deal with it. The one thing we like to tell people is we don’t have a schedule. Our schedule is kite time. If the wind is up, we will be flying kites on the beach.”

And chances are you’ll continue to see Chong flying kites on the beach — even after retirement.

Contact reporter Patti Zarling at pzarling@gannett.com or call 920-606-2575. Follow her on X @PGPattiZarling and on Instgram @PGPatti.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Organizer Chow Chong says goodbye to Kites Over Lake Michigan in Two Rivers