Cedar City Lions Club Hosts 21st Annual Kite Flight for Reading and Sight This Weekend

This Saturday, April 26, the Cedar City Lions Club invites families to attend the 21st Annual Mountain America Institute Kite Flight for Reading and Sight at Cedar Middle School. The event celebrates children’s literacy and promotes vision care, two causes the Lions Club is deeply committed to supporting.

“The kids have been logging their reading since January,” explained Mark Nelson, a Lions Club member, during a recent appearance on the Big Picture Morning Show on KSUB radio. “We passed out reading charts to preschools, elementary schools, and sixth grade centers throughout Iron County. On Saturday, they'll bring in their completed charts and redeem them for a kite or a book. Plus, every child receives a movie pass from the Cedar Fun Center.”

Children often choose their reward based on age. “Younger kids tend to pick the kite, and the older ones pick books,” Nelson said. But the real reward, Lions Club members say, is in fostering a lifelong love of reading.

“It's really to support reading,” added fellow Lions member Joe Godwin. “Because when kids read, we all win. The kite flight gives encouragement to those who might not be inclined to read otherwise.”

This community event typically draws between 500 and 800 children, along with their families. In addition to kite flying and giveaways, this year’s celebration will include entertainment by local school choirs and musical groups. Sponsors and healthcare professionals will also be on-site to provide free vision screenings.

Lions Have Mandate To Encourage Vision Health

Helping children with vision needs is a foundational mission for the Lions Club, inspired by Helen Keller’s 1925 challenge for Lions to become “Knights of the blind.” As Nelson explained, “School nurses identify children in need of glasses and refer them to us. We then work with local optometrists like Dr. Whitney to ensure they get the vision care they need.”

The Kite Flight for Reading and Sight is not only a fun family outing but also a demonstration of how community partnerships can uplift literacy and vision health for children across Iron County.

You can get information about the Kite Flight for Reading and Sight on the Lions Club website, and you can listen to our entire discussion with Godwin and Nelson in the podcast below.