Charlotte, Catawba Power Squadrons treat kids to day on the lake

Wayne Curry had a problem Saturday, but he wasn’t too bothered by it.

He works with boys at Lancaster Children’s Home, so he’s seen challenges well beyond kids having too much fun on the water.

“I can’t keep them off the boat,” said Curry, who is known among the children as “Mr. B.”

Curry’s group brought 11 boys and 18 girls Saturday to Red Fez Club in Steele Creek, part of almost 300 people at the children’s outing hosted by the Charlotte and Catawba Power Squadrons. The boating safety groups invite a dozen or more organizations each year, from adoption and foster care groups to international refugees and police youth programs.

“It’s all about taking children who are underprivileged or who are orphaned; it’s about giving them a day on the water,” said Diane Woods, co-organizer with Catawba Power Squadron. “Our whole thing is at the end of the day to know we’ve given someone a fun day that they’ve never had.”

Woods and her husband, Les, are firefighters in Tega Cay and longtime members of the Catawba group, which covers most of York County. Both snapped life jackets on and off for the biggest draw , squadron members taking children out for boat rides by the bunch.

“A lot of these kids have never been on a boat in their life,” Les Woods said, “and they’re in awe.”

Past Charlotte Commander Ken Elkins grew up fishing on a Georgia lake, on one of those small spots families could lease for a century or so. He knew about boats and lakes about as far back as he can remember, but many of the children’s outing attendees have grown up in Charlotte without knowing anything of Lake Wylie or Lake Norman.

“They just don’t know what a wonderful resource this is, and it’s right out their back door,” Elkins said. “A lot of kids never get the chance to experience that.”

Elkins brings a 21-foot bowrider, a good bit faster than pontoons and a hit particularly with boys. Elkins likes to “frighten them a little bit” by circling and dipping the bow into his own wake, spilling water into the boat to the delight of his crew. Of the varied reactions to a first boat ride over the years, the best has to be children insisting on Elkins again for their second.

“They’ll ask for me,” he said. “That's probably the best reaction.”

Former Lake Wylie Marine Commission member Charles “Bo” Ibach lives in Indian Land now, but has decades experience with the Charlotte squadron, including as past commander. Ibach organizes the children’s outing each year for his half of the bi-squadron effort. Ibach spent his week prior to the children’s outing the way he always does, confirming food and volunteer details while crossing his fingers with every weather forecast.

“Saying prayers right and left for no rain,” he said.

Soggy weather for days prior broke just in time for the event, which had children swimming and fishing while others played basketball or leveled sandcastles. The children’s outing began more than 50 years ago and hasn’t been canceled for rain yet.

“It got started about three years after Charlotte Power Squadron was founded,” Ibach said. “That’s before my time of being a member. The number of kids grew exponentially. It went from having about 80 kids show up to what we have today.”

Yet with all the experience and planning, often it’s the distant detail that means something to children and chaperones. For senior intern Enid Croom with Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency, it’s a peaceful day together.

“Most of them are fleeing the country or are exiled,” she said, explaining the 30 children her group brought. Her agency serves from more than 100 countries. “They’re fleeing because it’s not safe. Some have lost family members because of political ideology, or just general violence.”

For other children, a lasting image involved homes on a distant shoreline.

“The situation they come from,” Curry said, “they come out here and see all these huge houses and say, ‘Mr. B, I can have something like that when I grow up?’ I say, you can have anything you want if you work for it.”

“The kids are just absolutely, they’re so grateful for the day,” Ibach said. “It’s so hard to describe. It’s so meaningful for so many people.”

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 8:03 AM with the headline "Charlotte, Catawba Power Squadrons treat kids to day on the lake."