Port Neches math teacher adds color to breezy days

Published 12:29 am Saturday, March 20, 2021

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NEDERLAND — The 25-foot long orange octopus popped against Friday’s bright blue sky, showing up for miles from Doornbos Park in Nederland.

It was there that 62-year-old Sondra Dixon was flying her brand new kite, which had just come in the night before.

“I couldn’t wait to come try it out,” she said.

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While it can stretch 300 feet into the sky, she said, it wasn’t near maximum length when it was spotted from the outskirts of town.

Sondra Dixon flies one of her many kites Friday at Doornbos Park in Nederland. (Monique Batson/The News)

And it’s not her biggest.

“I have one that is 50 feet long,” she said while reeling the octopus back in and rolling it into a bag.

She’s recently started introducing her grandkids to the art, hoping to pass down her hobby and love for windy days.

The Port Neches Middle School math teacher has been an educator for 41 years, but she’s been touching the sky for much longer.

“My dad would make kites for us,” she said. “It was always fun when the Sunday funnies would come in and our kites were in color.”

She has approximately six large and expensive kites, which she often flies at parks and beaches.

“I just tell people to meet me at the kite,” she said with a laugh. “I have a black one, but it looks a little like a monster.”