It’s an operation in which each member has a pivotal role to play and for Marvin Cole, ensuring that the kites are of the best quality is one of his primary objectives.
At the same time, Cole’s kite-making business along the Buxton Public Road on the East Coast of Demerara ensures that the youths of the area are meaningfully occupied. He described it as a team effort that every member of the team looks forward to at the beginning of the year.
Cole’s preparations would also see him making orders for materials weeks before Easter. He said he imports some of the materials from Brazil and some from Trinidad and Tobago. He explained that the plastic and paper, as well as the string used in making the kites, are brought from those countries.
“We have some special kite paper which we have to bring from Brazil,” he added. The wood is sourced locally,” Cole said.
In terms of the prices, he explained this varies from as low as $1000 to $15,000, the latter being the bigger kites such as the 6 feet kites. He said too that there are persons who would make special orders in terms of design and those, he noted, would also carry a cost agreed upon by him and the customer.
“Any kite you want we make, the most unusual I ever had was around the world kite and that had a lot of work,” he added, noting that it was the most difficult one he ever made.
Finally, the other members of the team would be tasked with cutting and pasting the paper or plastic and adding the final touches to “style” the kite.
“We got box kites, round the world, and star kites,” Cole added as he spoke of the multiple designs his team has in their repertoire.Cole and his team of 20 young men work tirelessly in the weeks preceding Easter and according to him, it is a business that started way back in 1989.
“This whole operation started back in 89 and at the time we used to be at the back of the village,” he told this publication recently.
Cole said the seasonal business survived the crime wave of 2002 and according to him, it was around that time that he and his team moved the business to the front, to the public road at Buxton. Kite-making is a skill that was passed down and according to the man, it is one which he enjoys each year.
He reiterated that each person in the group has his/her role, explaining that he would buy the wood and he also takes care of the cutting of the wood into smaller pieces. Silverballi and Simarupa are the primary types of wood used since they are lightweight. Cole’s brother would then gather the frames and other colleagues would then place the twine around the frame onto which the kite paper or plastic would be placed.
Cole said some two weeks before the Easter season begins, he makes his preparations and heads to the roadside.
As it relates to orders, Cole revealed that he makes kites free of cost for schools while other organisations such as churches would order large amounts, numbering more than 500 at once. They would pay for the kites while the businessman would also donate some kites free to the church.
“It is part of giving back,” he said.
Cole also spoke about his young team and he noted that many of the boys started making kites in their childhood years.
“Since January they would say ‘yo Cole, when we starting?’ and then we would come out and everybody know what they got to do when we out here,” he said of the team.
As Cole and his team design their kites, multiple vehicles stop in front of the kite stand as customers make special and large orders for kites, as demand for the kites increase as the Easter weekend approaches.
