Press Release

From the Desk of the Presiding Concordant
The Order of the Great Fifth Sea
Rawley Point Chapter House
14 August 2025

RE: On the Matter of Attendance at the Algoma “Soar on the Shore” Kite Festival

In recent weeks, members of the Order have been approached — both formally and informally — regarding our potential participation in the upcoming Soar on the Shore Kite Festival, to be held along the Algoma waterfront. While the Order is grateful for the invitation and recognizes the community’s enthusiasm for windborne endeavors, it is the consensus of the Chapter that our participation at this time would not align with the foundational tenets of our charter.

The Order’s mission — Custodes Litoris. Memoria Maris. — commits us to the disciplined study, documentation, and ceremonial acknowledgment of Lake Michigan’s phenomena through historically faithful equipment and methodology. While we acknowledge that kite flight is a noble and storied pursuit, the Soar on the Shore event prioritizes spectacle over observation, and inflatable cartoon fauna over hydrographic relevance.

The Chapter’s decision to abstain from attendance is based on three primary considerations:

1. Preservation of Gravitas
   The Order maintains a clear distinction between ceremonial kite deployment for aerial documentation and recreational kite-flying for entertainment purposes. Blurring this distinction in a carnival-like setting could diminish the seriousness of our public perception.

2. Operational Constraints
   Historical precedent, specifically the Kite Entanglement Incident of 2019, demonstrates the inherent risk of co-mingling multiple airborne devices in a congested wind corridor. The resulting airspace confusion is inconsistent with our safety protocols.

3. Alignment with Mission Objectives
   While “sharing the sky” is a commendable sentiment, our kite operations are primarily designed for controlled, data-focused missions. Participation in an uncontrolled public festival would compromise our ability to meet observational standards.

The Order remains committed to engaging with the public through appropriate forums, including our forthcoming autumnal lecture series, “Wind, Line, and Lens: Three Centuries of Aerial Observation on the Inland Sea.” We will continue to advance public understanding of Lake Michigan’s dynamics through dignified and disciplined avenues.

Respectfully,
Alistar Corvus Presiding Concordant The Order of the Great Fifth Sea