MILWAUKEE — Scott Fisher had a dream 32 years ago. The pilot wanted to share his love of flying with others.

“I fly airplanes and I’ve always been fascinated by things that fly, so I opened up a pilot retail shop in Mayfair Mall,” Fisher said. “The people who came in asked me, ‘Where are the kites?'‘“

That’s when Fisher had an idea.  

“I did some investigating and found that it was quite the sport starting up,” he said. “Milwaukee County Parks asked me to set up a small shop at Veteran’s Park one weekend and I never left.”

The shop is called Gift of Wings. Fisher now has three locations in Greendale, Franklin and the original store in Veteran’s Park. He now sells about 400 different kinds of kites.

“To me, there’s nothing more relaxing than watching a kite fly through the sky,” he said.

Gift of Wings is the only kite business of its kind in Wisconsin. Fisher said he’s proud of that. He’s also proud to host some of the largest kite festivals in the nation.

“We have kite flyers from all over the world come in,” he said. “Veteran’s Park is one of the top 10 best kite-flying parks in the United States.”

 Fisher’s favorite thing is to watch others find their passion for flying kites as well. 

“I love it,” he said. “It’s as much fun, if not more fun, than when we first started.”

Gift of Wings will host its next kite festival at Veteran’s Park on Sept. 10 and 11.​