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The 2024 CFKLP Story
Boat Captains arrive before dawn. Most come from the Valley, some from Tucson, Prescott, Payson, Kingman, etc. It makes for a long day but many do it year after year. Moving the event to March 3 helped us beat last year’s scalding heat on April 29, but the day started a wee bit chilly. Shore Volunteers began arriving at the crack of dawn. Dawn cracked a few times, so we stayed on schedule (mostly). Kids and their families began arriving around 0730. They waited patiently for registration to begin at 0800. Boats were launching by 0830, thanks to more Boat Valet volunteers than we’ve ever had. We set a new record for Shore Volunteers — 63!! Covid and Norovirus took a heavy toll of kids and/or parents the week of the event. We had 16 cancellations or No Shows, leaving a total of 43 Participating Kids. Our 47 Boat Captains were enough to take the kids and a few of our younger Shore Volunteers out on the water.
Much of the major site prep work is done the day before the event. One crucial event-morning activity is setting out the kids’ free things: hats, t-shirts, name tags, rods & reels, tackle boxes, sunscreen, water, snakcs etc. The kids get to keep everything! Thank you, Sponsors!!
We had a few glitches this year, as we always do. The first one was not having two tower lights that we used last year. We set everything up in the dark, so some things got scrambled and that slowed down registration. But chaos is natural at events like this. The kids, families, and volunteers handled everything like champions.
Who stuffed all those Flambeau Outdoors tackle boxes?!
Preparation for C.A.S.T. for Kids at Lake Pleasant starts a few days after the previous one. The Coordinator (me) thanks Participants, Volunteers, and Sponsors for the last one and invites them back for the next one! Lots of admin follow-up work for me to do, too. But skipping that boring stuff, let’s cover an angler’s favorite subject: fishing tackle. Weeks before the event, generous Local Sponsors donate tackle to fill 55 tackle boxes to the brim. Each will have all the tackle the child will need on event day, but also enough for the next year. Who does the stuffing? Two of our younger Shore Volunteers: Drew (10 yo) and Tyler Johnson (8 yo), my younger grandsons. We set up a production line in the backyard, near the lake where they learned to fish. Voila! — come rain or shine, 4-5 work days later the tackle boxes are full. A secret: the boys each stuff one tackle box fuller than seems possible. During registration, they lurk along the kids’ supply line and choose to whom they will give the super boxes. I've asked how they choose. "We just know."
C.A.S.T. for Kids at Lake Pleasant is truly a family event for us. Tyler says he will be the Coordinator when I die.
A Tale of Two CFKLP Sponsors that Joined CFKLP in 2024
National & Western Regional Sponsors
