Volunteer boat owners take kids on fishing trip on Lake Powell
By: Lee Pulaski
Lake Powell Chronicle
GLEN CANYON NRA - Lake Powell provides enjoyment for millions of people annually, but there are some families in this region who do not get the opportunity to go out to the lake, including some local children.
Saturday was a different story as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and National Park Service held its first Cast for Kids fishing event at the lake. Although the winds approached 30 miles per hour at times during the morning, that did not stop the children from having a good time or even catching a few fish.
Thirty children in the area participated in the event, which Reclamation hopes to hold annually. Approximately 40 were anticipated, which left some of the 60 local volunteers who provided their boats for the day without anyone to take fishing. However, the local Girl Scouts who were helping to register people for the event got the opportunity to go out on the lake as a reward for their assistance.
Although this is the first Cast for Kids event locally, Reclamation has held this event at many national parks throughout the years. Retired Reclamation Commissioner John Keys, who came to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, said the event first started in 1992 with the help of the Bass Federation.
"They were interested in helping handicapped kids," Keys said. "The idea was to take them fishing. We first developed it in 1991, and in early 1992, we got the Bass folks to bring their boats to the banks of a lake. There were only 10 or 12 kids that first year, and it took off from there."
After that first year, the event grew to two locations and then three. This year, more than 50 lakes are participating in Cast for Kids, with Reclamation offices heading up 23 of those events. Even though the program is listed for children with special needs, Keys pointed out that poverty, although it is not a physical or mental disability, can be a special need nonetheless.
"If there are any saints in this world, they are the parents of these handicapped kids, because they have to deal with these special needs day in and day out, 24-7. This gives them a chance to go out and do something with them or let somebody else take them out," Keys said. "I'll tell you, these fishermen are really great people to bring their boats in and work with the kids."
To see the children's faces light up while they are out fishing puts Keys on top of the world. He recalled one girl who goes to the Helping Hands Agency and how excited she was that she caught something.
Although Cast for Kids started 15 years ago, the credit for the event coming to Lake Powell goes to Kay Cowan of the local Reclamation office. Cowan said the local day has been a long time coming.
"I had wanted to do it for about five years," she said. "I went over to Farmington (N.M.) on a detail last year, and they were just getting ready to do Cast for Kids. They kind of inspired me and showed me that I could do this (locally). I felt that this was the year we were going to do it, and my boss was very supportive. He kind of gave me free reign on it."
Cowan plans to do it every year, and if she needed any inspiration, all she had to do was see the kids come back with smiles on their faces.
"That's my favorite part," she said.
Cowan hopes to bring more kids out for Cast for Kids next year. She said the minimum age to participate is 6 years old, although she has no qualms about taking young adults out for the day, either.
"I just want everybody to come. I want there to be a lot of participation," Cowan said.
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