By Dru Willis. More than 200 at-risk children dove into all things Lake Norman for Big Day at the Lake July 18, some of them experiencing tubing, swimming, and boating for the first time. A volunteer armada of Boat Hosts—more than 100 strong—and six dozen volunteers, as well as police and firefighters, made it all happen.
Mama’s Pizza on South Main Street in Cornelius provided pizzas at no charge. Pictured are long-time supporters Erin Manis-Maniscalco, Laura Copeland Doody, Lynn Seifert Manis and Frank Manis.
Not to mention food donations from the likes of Mama’s Pizza—100 hot fresh pies; Big Bite’z—buckets of fresh-made cole slaw; Port City Club—600 hot dogs; Dole Foods—literally thousands of fruit cups; and Bruster’s Ice Cream—from vanilla to cotton candy swirl.
Call it controlled chaos. Organized mayhem. First, fun on the lake, with all those Boat Hosts. Then a picnic for everyone at Duke’s Energy Explorium.
But it’s all about kids in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Charlotte. There are 250 served by the agency in North Mecklenburg, but many of them come from Charlotte itself for the event which is designed to provide a day of fun for Bigs, or mentors, and Littles, the at-risk children.
Both the Town of Cornelius and Mecklenburg County declared July 18 Big Day at the Lake Day.
It went off without a hitch, if you didn’t mind a stationary monsoon at the start of the picnic. At least it seemed stationary.
All that rain could not wipe the joy from the faces of the Littles, even as Thor did his thing in the clouds.
Little Sister Kaliyah had plenty of fun “because we get to go on the waves and then we get to jump up in the air and then come back down.” She attended with her Big, Lisa Bzowski.
The two meet weekly and they try to do a mix of fun things and “responsible” things like grocery shopping. Kaliyah found, in spite of her original hesitations, that she really enjoys ice skating. She now has taken her first two basic level classes for figure skating and got a pair of skates for her birthday.
“I want to compete,” she said.
The two were giggling as they happily recounted their big day at the lake.
“We both leaned forward on the tubes at the same time and went right under,” Bzowski recalled with a giant laugh, adding Kaliyah forgot to let go of the tube and just rode it under water. “I was like way back, choking and coughing, and she’s just right there laughing. And they just left me hanging back there.”
For the bigs, the reasons to get involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters lies in a desire to give back to the community and be a positive influence.
Charlene Dangler grew up in Virginia Beach and went to the University of Toledo in Ohio, where her sorority volunteered with children. Now she spends time once a week with her little, Nehjana.
“And then when I graduated I didn’t have an opportunity to volunteer anymore so when I moved down to Charlotte this was the easiest way that I could get involved with something,” Dangler said.
Placide Muhizi’s Little’s name is Bryce. Muhizi wants to be a good influence.
“I think it’s important that young boys get mentors, somebody that can be a positive role model,” he stated.
Bryce’s mother told him about Big Brothers Big Sisters. “And so I said, ‘That sounds cool’ and now I’m in it,” Bryce said.
Jeff Groose and Andre have been matched up for about a year and a half now. Andre calls Groose “my bro” and the two have done a lot together.
“I was fortunate enough to get Andre, and his mom is great,” Groose happily said.
There are more than just bigs and littles running around at Big Day at the Lake, as volunteers like coworkers Callie Luckadoo and Brittany Nance could be found helping dish out warm pasta for lunch and keeping condiments handy and abundant.
“It’s great to have an opportunity to get connected with other people in Charlotte, and I think that the Big Brothers Big Sisters program is really important and impactful,” Luckadoo said. “And so it’s fun to see the Big Brothers and Big Sisters hang out with their littles and enjoy the lake.”
In all, there were roughly 6 dozen volunteers at the picnic alone, ranging from directing traffic to filling up water balloons, from set-up to clean-up; from the hot dog grill to scooping ice cream.
Presenting Sponsor, PayPal, ran a fun booth to make colorful hands out of warm wax. There was still a line of kids when the picnic was ending at 3:30 p.m.
“There are a lot of folks that take a lot of time and energy to make this happen. There are so many moving parts, but when you get there and see the faces on the kids, it makes everything worthwhile,” says Angela Swett, a long-time member of the Big Day at the Lake committee. who is in charge of overall picnic logistics.
At the end of the day, the event is all about children experiencing something they likely would not have an opportunity to experience. They get to do this with Boat Hosts and their families, as well as volunteers who otherwise would not come together.
Boat Hosts Carmen and Jon Canady said this: “We feel that we need to thank YOU for this wonderful experience! Our family could not have been matched with better people, and the memories that were created will last forever.”
Here is the note she got from her Big.
I can’t thank you and Jonathan enough for giving your time, sharing your amazing kids, taking us out on your boat, and being so unbelievably generous and kind. The kids had a great time and really opened up more than I’ve ever seen them do…Willie actually danced. I’m still shocked a day later. Emani, the most water cautious kid, went tubing twice—yes, we have the video and pics to prove it! I think those two things alone speak to what an incredibly safe environment your family created for Willie and Emani in which they felt comfortable to be silly, let go, and brave their fears and ignore their self consciousness. I truly believe that Willie and Emani will always have special memories from yesterday that they’ll retain for the rest of their lives. Thanks so much for everything!!”
Notes from this year’s boat hosts:
It was awesome and both my friends and I planning on it for next year.
— Babs Bryant
Always a great day. Such a small thing to do, and I wonder who it benefits more: the kids or us, the boat hosts? We take so much for granted.
— Jeff Arbaugh
Our “Littles” really liked tubing…told them I would do it all morning if they wanted us to, and they did and we did. The “Bigs” had an equally good time.
— Paul and Marty Mack
Both of the pairs assigned to my boat were polite, appreciative and a pleasure to host. I hope all other Boat Hosts had as an enjoyable time as my wife and I did. The littles were quality youths and if all in your program are similar, you are doing a great service to them and the community.
— Jose Suarez
I’m so glad I could participate! Please keep me on the list for future events….we couldn’t make it to the cookout, we were having so much fun on the lake that we lost track of time. I had a Big Brother when I was a kid, and he had such a huge impact on my life. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to give back, if only in a small way.
— Pat Oram
Many people made it happen!
Boat Hosts
Jeff Arbaugh
Jared Barrow
Kirk Beatty
April & Jack Beckman
Denis Bilodeau
Herb Boyd
Steve Branum
Tracy Brown
Ron Bruce
Bob & Kris Bruton
Babs Bryant
Brian Buckley
April Buttner
Richard Bywater
John Callaway
Charles Callis
Carmen Canady
Michael Carlet
Guy Cline
Rick Cushing
Eric Dana
Brad Daubenmire
Kristin DeGifford
Curtis DeSena
Josh Dobi
Tom and Ann Dutton
Jim and Laura Engel
Gary Fagan
Jim fletemier
Sid Foushee
Marty Fox
Colin Furcht
Kate Gaither
Jace Gates
Mike Griffin
Josh Habeeb
Bob Hallman
Jason R Happe
Dent Hardin
Mike Harms
Brett Hart
Mike Hartnett
Eric Hartwick
Paul W Hassler
Fred Heck
Kit Henry
Diana Highter
Shannon Hilton
Robert Holman
Eric & Amy Hoyle
William Huertas
Marc Jacobsen
David Jazbec
Walter Jones
Susan Joosten
Mike Joseph
Dennis Kazmierczak
Michelle Kibel
Lisa Krass
Jerry Kurtz
Dale Lang
Steve Lastella
Mike Layel
Paul Mack
Frank & Lynn Manis
John McClelland
Mike McClelland
William McGuire
James Meagher
Mark Miescher-Clemens
Kevin Mikeworth
Michael Miltich
Monica Murdock
Paul Newton
Patrick Oram
Joe and Lori Owens
Don & Vickie Payne
Steve Paynter
Randy Plante
Steven Riggan
Larry W. Riggs
Blake Schell
Denis Schmider
Kevin Shea
Tom Simonson
Greg Sobiech
Wendy Speckman
Dan Stehle
J.C. Stephens
Jose Suarez
Kyle & Linda Taylor
Choquette Uglehus
Debbie Vandeventer
Tom Varian
Charles Ventimiglia
Ken Walker
Vincent Watkins
Jeff Weir
Perry and Nancy Weir
Todd Wiebusch
David Yochum
Heather Washik
Keith Summitt
Tim Peticca
James Martino
Marty C Edwards
Ken Ziegler
Joan E Gardner
John Bradford
Sean Higbea
Volunteers
Evan Moore
Clay Heath
Frank Powell
Micheal Brennan
Ethan Parham
Alex Hafner
Nick Fucini
Colin Abercrombie
Hobie Helbich
Connor Ryan
Ben Coy
Trevor Lindscheid
James Duke
Demille Jennings
Sandee Balise
Jennifer Dwiggins
Debbie Monroe
Kristin Couch
Kent Couch
Bob Van Buskirk
Nancy Van Buskirk
Jim Ranieri
Laura De Falco
Charlie Curtis
Maria Wilson
Karla Combs
Skye Jaundoo
John Aneralla
Amanda Aneralla
Pat Jackson
Megan Jackson
Jim Mooney
Jeff Hammett
Kevin Poole
Arlene Arciero
Tim Stein
Jim Chrystal
Kathi Callaway
Ruby Trap
Jessica Trap
Andrew Gluckman
Melinda Bell
John Donnelly
Cathy Bentz
David McCollum
Amy Whealdon
Heidi Hansen
Dirk Hansen
Hana Hansen
Laurel Shea
Melanie Shea
Taknicia Taylor
Skye Jaundoo
Brad Daubenmire
Jessie Daubenmire
Jacob Daubenmire
Ellan Shaw
Emily Shaw
Brittany Nance
Tracy Walters
Aimee Peer
McKenna Peer
Devin Peer
Liz Coy
Kathy Dole
Patrick Anderson
Callie Luckadoo
Kwame Boatwright
Annie Baugh
Hillary Walker
Hadley Walker
Tristan Walker
Taylor Estrada
Randy Lawrence
Rich Heareth
Mrs Heareth
Melanie Balousek
Kevin Lee
Amber Eastwood
Garrett McNellaga
Tiffany McNellaga
Committee
Auctions: Liz Marlow
Boat Hosts: Robert Reed
Fundraising: Heidi Hansen
Fundraising: Tracey Stehle
Food: Tracy Yochum
Logistics: Brad Daubenmire
Picnic: Angela Swett
Secretary: Gail Williams
Social media: Sergio Tovar
Volunteers: Chris Epps
Graphic Design: Stephen Nance
PR: Dave Vieser
Did we miss your name?
Let us know: corneliustoday@gmail.com
