A Special Thrill Caught By All
On Saturday the 2nd annual Lake Oroville C.A.S.T. for Kids event saw the best that a summer day could provide and it wasn't just the weather. Nature did smile upon the 40 participating children and 200 volunteers who supported the event with one of the coolest summer days of the year.
What's really cool is the partnerships established to bring this event together, first there is the partnership the Department of Water Resources established with the Departments of Parks & Recreation, Fish & Game, and Boating & Waterways who together with the C.A.S.T. for Kids Foundation agreed to sponsor C.A.S.T. Events at State Water Project Reservoirs from northern to southern California. Second and very important to the success of the Lake Oroville event is the partnerships established with Service Organizations and businesses in the community to support the event.
Of course the number 1 partnership and what this event is all about is the partnership between local tournament experienced fishermen & women with developmentally disabled children from our local area. The C.A.S.T. Foundation has been supporting C.A.S.T. events nationwide since 1992. The C.A.S.T. Foundation was established by Jim Owens out of Renton, Washington.
Jim attended Lake Oroville's 5 hour event and was Master of Ceremonies for the Awards Ceremony when the children and the fishermen & women who took the children out on the Lake had returned, they received plaques and hats, the children also received a Rod & Reel, tackle box, build-a-bears (from Noah's Arc) and bags stuffed with goodies provided by the many sponsors to the event.
Jim Owens also shared with those gathered at the awards ceremony how in 1992 at this inaugural event with just 12 children that he thought it would be a one time event, however working with these children has changed his life and that he now dedicates his time to seeing that the C.A.S.T. Foundation is serving children and communities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
You might be asking yourself what does C.A.S.T. stand for and it is "Catch a Special Thrill", at the end of the day the organizers of the event asked themselves did that occur at the Spillway Recreation Unit on Saturday September 9th? Was it the Oroville Kiwanis who served a pancake breakfast as the suns rays skipped across Lake Oroville on this perfect day; did they catch a special thrill? Could it have been the interaction between Directors Ryan Broddrick with DFG, Raynor Tsuneyoshi with DBW, Deputy Director Ralph Torres with DWR, District Superintendent for Northern Buttes Bob Foster, and Vice Mayor of Oroville Steve Jernigan discussing how they can continue there partnership and expand the support to the event? Was it the connection made between the students from CSUC who were pared with a participating child? Maybe it happened for the 20 Firefighters who assisted with handling the children, gently lifting them in and out of the boats for there day of fishing? Could it have been the staff from Lake Oroville Marina who watched and were pleased to see the disabled access houseboat and two deck cruisers they had donated were being boarded by 8 children confined to there electric powered wheelchairs and the EMT's from First Responder that used a deck cruiser? Was it at the barbeque lunch the Chico Bass Conservation Club served to the over 250 who shared fish tales and talked of the day's events? Or could it have been the crowded limousine rides Exclusive Limousine finished the day off with?
You see here's the answer; this day of partnerships provided a special thrill for everyone involved that will stay with them until the next Lake Oroville C.A.S.T. for Kids Event; that same special thrill that Jim Owens feels with every new smile collected under the Catch a Special Thrill umbrella.
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