By CLAYTON PARK

I grew up in Wallingford, in a house only four blocks directly north of what is now Gas Works Park and its famous Kite Hill, a favorite gathering place for kite-flying enthusiasts from throughout the city.

My own experience with kite-flying was something less than memorable. It involved me buying one of those diamond-shaped wood-frame paper kites from the old Food Giant supermarket and heading over to the Wallingford Playfield where, try as I might, I couldn't figure out how to get the darn thing to fly. I eventually gave up after I got tired of running around in circles.

I was too embarassed to let my friends know that I couldn't do a simple thing like fly a kite. It's a memory I have managed to repress over the years.

Needless to say, I took great comfort in knowing that Charlie Brown was just as much of a kite-flying klutz as I was, even if he was just a cartoon character.

I'm confessing all this today, because I now realize that there may be hope for people like me yet.

That's because it turns out that just three blocks from my childhood home, there's a business called the Gas Works Kite Shop, which specializes in showing people just how easy and how exciting the sport of kite-flying can be.

"I can even show you a kite that a three-year-old can fly," says store manager Doug Garza, who proceeded to pull out a small 12 inch by 14 inch mylar kite called "The Tiny Dancer." To prove it, he flew it right there inside the shop.

But for those who prefer difficult challenges, there are kites that can suit their needs, too - everything from large indoor kites that can be flown inside gyms, to multiple line kites that can used to perform stunts. There are even kites you can surf and ski with and even kites that can pull a buggy with passengers in.

The Gas Works Kite Shop started in 1979 by owner Kathy Goodwind, who initially operated the business (then known as Suspended Elevations) in the U-District before moving it to the Wallingford area the following year.

Goodwind is a medical technologist who became enamored with kites after seeing someone fly an ornate cloth kite with a butterfly design at Gas Works Park.

Before long, Goodwind was sewing and selling kites of her own. Eventually the business grew, prompting her to open a retail store in addition to her wholesale kitemaking operation. In 1987, she moved the business, which had been renamed Gas Works Kite Shop, to its current location at 3333 Wallingford Ave. N.

These days, she oversees a five person staff, including herself and her son, Todd Hostetter, 31, along with Garza.

In addition to selling their own line of Goodwinds Kites, Gas Works Kite Shop also carries kites by other companies, in addition to kite-making supplies, and other items, such as yo-yos, frisbees, windsocks, banners and "goofy little toys that make you laugh," says Goodwind. "We sell outdoor fun."

Sure enough, one of the items I spied upon looking around the shop was something called a "Kiteflyer's Power Amulet": A small stuffed Charlie Brown doll that you wear around your neck.

Goodwind's son Todd recently won a national award for his design of a unique kite that requires no assembly. It's called the Popcan Kite, due to its unique cylinder shape. When it's not in use, it can collapse into the size of a frisbee.

Goodwind is also the organizer of the annual Seattle Kite Festival, which is in its 11th year. This year's festival will be held on June 20 at Golden Gardens. The event includes kite-making clinics, and a Rokaku Battle, which Goodwind describes as a kite battle featuring representatives from Seattle's six kiteshops. The contestants try to knock each other's kites out of the sky. The last one flying wins.

The highlight of the festival is the big "mass ascension" at 1 p.m. that features the simultaneous flying of hundreds of kites. A month before the festival, all kiteshops in Seattle will sell special kites designated specifically to be used in this event. All the proceeds from the sales of these kites will be donated to the Boyer Children's Clinic. "To see 500 kites of the same type and color flying at the same time is the most amazing sight you'll ever see," says Goodwind.

Well, that only gives me two months to practice my kite-flying skills. I guess I better get cracking.