Love of the boomerang keeps enthusiasts coming back

Boomerangs wheeled and whistled through the sky above Cornerstone Lakes Park in West Chicago on Sunday, landing in the capable hands of throwers from the U.S. Boomerang Association.

One member, Logan Broadbent, from Cleveland, embellished his catch with a neatly turned back-flip.

Others caught their missiles between their legs, behind their backs or with their feet in hacky sack flourishes.

Just a few yards away, Broadbent's father, Gary, was demonstrating proper boomerang technique to about a half dozen novices, ranging in age from an 8-year-old to senior citizens.

During the demonstration, Gary Broadbent picked up some blades of grass and dropped them to see which way the wind was blowing.

"You want the wind to hit your left cheek if you're right handed," he said.

He emphasized that the throwing motion should be straight up and down, not like a Frisbee.

"It's vertical, just like throwing a football or baseball. You release at eye level, with your arm fully extended, and the boomerang will curve counterclockwise and come back."

Sunday was the conclusion of the U.S. Boomerang Association's National Championship and Exposition, although the actual competition was over by Saturday, with Sunday devoted to exhibitions and lessons for those interested in taking up the sport.

Gary Broadbent, who lives in Canton, Ohio, is a hard-core boomerang enthusiast, who manufactures and collects the devices.

He explained how he once threw one of the MTA, or maximum time aloft, boomerangs in Canton.

"The boomerang got caught in a thermal, and it disappeared in the sky," he said. "It was found four days later in a Kmart parking lot in DuBois, Pennsylvania, 171 miles from Canton."

When it was found, the woman who discovered it called him up to alert him.

She said, "You mustn't be very good at this."

Like father, like son. Over the weekend in West Chicago, Gary's son Logan lost his MTA boomerang on the roof of nearby Norton Creek Elementary School.

The MTA is made of carbon fiber and Kevlar.

Gary Broadbent said, "It generates more lift than it weighs. So you throw it, and it corkscrews way up in the air and it turns over and drops like a maple seed."

The event drew a few curious spectators, including Leroy Fennewald of West Chicago, who said after observing Gary Broadbent's lesson, "He makes it sound awfully simple, but I'm sure he's been doing it for several years."

The weekend's competition turned out very well for the United States Boomerang Association, with President James Stickney from Seattle taking first place, gaining the lead over second-place finisher Logan Broadbent in the final event.

Daniel Bower placed third and twin brother Richard Bower took fourth. The Bowers are also from Seattle.

The events themselves test skills in accuracy, speed and endurance, as well as the ability to make trick catches.

Several of the contestants were out on the field Sunday, having fun and enjoying the sunshine, including Betsylew Miale from Seattle.

"I love the flight of the boomerang," Miale said. "I love that men and women can compete equally if you have the hand-eye coordination, the throwing arm, the determination."

For the 53-year-old Gary Broadbent, boomerangs are a way of life.

He is the largest boomerang manufacturer in America. He said he has 15,000 boomerangs, including boomerangs that bear the designs of Michael Jordan, Goofy and Donald Duck.

In his collection, he has more than 4,000 ancient aboriginal pieces.

"The Smithsonian would die to have what I have," he said.

A couple of his boomerangs are in Chicago's Field Museum.

"This is my kind of sport. I get to be the quarterback and the receiver, the pitcher and the catcher," he said.

Those competing this weekend share a total commitment to the sport.

Richard Bower said, "Most people in the sport aren't afraid of traveling good distances to go do what we want to do and have fun.'

And for the 29-year-old Bower, who threw his first boomerang at age 13 and is now the superintendent for a remodeling contractor, those travels can be as far as Europe and Japan for the World Cup events.

Logan Broadbent, 27, who leads business development initiatives for General Electric, and had a boomerang in his hand before he could walk, said the sport has been a passport to the world, giving him the opportunity to travel and meet a wide range of people, including doctors, lawyers and carpenters.