By Mary McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 7/3/03)

WINCHESTER — On a clear day in Winchester, he dons an old fashioned leather helmet and goggles, and adjusts his drab green bomber jacket. A white scarf circles his neck and blows gently in the light breeze.

"I want to fly," he says.

A hint of a white collar is visible amid the folds of his scarf as he boards the "Screaming Chicken" and flies off into the wild blue yonder.

Father Michael Kelly is "test flying" one of his latest biplane bikes.

A man of many faces, Father Kelly says he can think more clearly when his hands are moving.

While his primary job is serving as parochial vicar at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish: visiting the sick, helping at Sacred Heart Academy and ministering to the parish; he can also be found dressed up as a private in the 28th Massachusetts Regiment, or the 47th Virginia, or riding on one of nine biplane bikes.

Father Kelly has converted "his side" of the rectory garage into an airplane hanger of sorts. Strewn on a make-shift table are drawings and templates of two-dimensional biplanes. Father Kelly has constructed and painted nine different planes that can be mounted to his bicycle.

His planes are reproduced with historical accuracy to resemble planes flown in World War I and II. "The tremendous courage it took to get up there, God can make good come out of evil," Father Kelly said of the pilots who flew in the warplanes.

Father Kelly began building biplanes for bikes about a year ago. "I like to dress things up," he said. "What started out as art, turned into a life of its own."

Father Kelly thought up the idea of the biplane bikes while reading an article on parade floats and floats based on bikes. Later, he saw pedal-car planes for small children, and thought, "Why do the little ones have all the fun?"

Each plane takes about one week to build from start to finish. They are built of lightweight foam board.

Father Kelly finds it easy to relate history to theology. "There are people who risk themselves on something greater than themselves. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have St. Louis or St. Joan. If you don’t risk what you have in this life, you won’t attain something greater in the next. Our forefathers did it for democracy, we do it for God."

This all-American priest cannot remember a time in his life when he was not fascinated with history.

Father Kelly’s entire family has always been very interested in history. His father served as a Marine until the 1970s, when they settled in Alexandria. His mother received a degree in art history and was especially interested in Medieval history as well as religious art and architecture.

He said that "as youngsters," he and his two brothers, Daniel and Matthew, used to sit with their parents at the dinner table and place nickel bets on history trivia. Their father would often start the bet and ask the question, and the nickel would pass around the table until someone answered correctly or until someone would run for the encyclopedia after dinner to find the answer.

Father Kelly’s youngest brother Daniel just returned to the United States after serving as a Lieutenant Colonel with the Marine Reserves in Iraq. He teaches social studies and history at a private school in North Carolina.

The middle child, Matthew, is a member of the city council in Fredericksburg and uses his knowledge of history to promote tourism.

Father Kelly served in the Navy for eight years before working as a security consultant prior to entering the seminary.

All three of the Kelly boys earned their undergraduate degrees in History from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg.

Father Kelly first became interested in Civil War reenactments in the late 1980s. When he entered the seminary in 1990, he was sure he wouldn’t have time for his hobby anymore and gave all his equipment to his brother, Matthew, who quickly became interested in replaying Civil War battles. A few years later, Father Kelly realized he could find time during the summer months, and he and his brother Daniel joined Matthew on the battlefields.

Since coming to Sacred Heart Parish, it has become more difficult for Father Kelly to participate in reenactments. When he was at St. James Parish in Falls Church, there were five priests in residence, and when he was assigned to St. Ambrose in Annandale in 1998, there were three priests attending to the needs of the parish, but at Sacred Heart, with only two priests ministering to two churches and one school in two counties, with a major hospital and 12 nursing homes, Father Kelly is kept very busy.

He has participated in the nearby Cedar Creek reenactment several times. He has achieved his 15 seconds of fame in the filming of both a Public Service Announcement for the state of Maryland, filmed at Antietam Battlefield, and when he carried the green flag for the 28th Massachusetts in a National Park Service film for the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Father Kelly visits classes at Sacred Heart Academy each week to teach the children a lesson, usually on theology. He said he likes to include a bit of history into his lessons so that the children can understand the background of their faith. In the future he wants to be able to talk to the students more about history and its importance.

Father Kelly feels that children do not learn as much about history in school as they did in the past. He hopes to eventually secure a patent on the biplane bikes and market them to children as an exciting, hands-on introduction to history.