Taking flight

COEUR d'ALENE - If 500 feet is the number of marvel for distance on home runs, for the flight of a paper airplane, it's 60.

Think you can design, fold and float a plane that will fly that far?

Prove it.

The Great Northwest Paper Airplane Contest will provide the runway for crafty and artistic designers looking to test their paper airplanes against the best the flying field has to offer.

The inaugural event will face off competitors in a number of different events, so if your plane can't go far, it can still be rewarded for best float time, design or most entertaining flight, like if it can whip off 10 loopty-loops or other aerobatic jaw-droppers.

More family-oriented events are needed downtown, said Brett Sommer, of Figpickels Toy Emporium and Papillion Paper Emporium, and the brainchild behind the inaugural event.

"Why else would we do it?" he joked. "I don't know, because we're nuts."

Seattle used to play host to such a competition that drew hundreds of fliers.

But the Emerald City stopped doing it, which could be Coeur d'Alene's gain, Sommer said, as he hopes the challenge becomes a regional tradition with hundreds of participants.

The next closest one is in Brooklyn, N.Y., he said, where the 60-foot monster toss took place.

And this isn't just sitting-in-the-back-of-the-classroom-bored type of paper airplane making, either.

Schools and colleges can compete for a $250 scholarship to their programs by entering the team challenge.

Eastern Washington University, University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College are a few that have already expressed interest.

But individual flyers can also join. Registration costs $1, and will go toward the Art on the Edge program.

For float and distance heats, planes must be made on site with nothing bigger than a 8 1/2-by-11-inch paper, and materials will be provided.

For design categories and entertainment categories, you can bring your best from home.

The event will liftoff 11 a.m. Sunday at the Resort Plaza Shops, which will be turned into a giant paper airplane runway, hangar, control tower and sky mall.

Real life pilots, flight attendants and jet designers are expected be on hand, and Sommer is still looking for anyone in the airplane field to be a celebrity judge.

Some tosses will launch from balconies for extra air.

Early registration is requested to establish the heats.

Entry packs and rules can be picked up at Figpickels, 312 Sherman Ave., or and Papillion Paper Emporium, in the Plaza Shops, 210 Sherman Ave.

Information: 667-2732 or for registration packets e-mail contactus@figpickels.com.

Lakeland students using banquet to raise awareness