July 29. Nearly 200 at-risk children from all over Mecklenburg County dove into Lake Norman July 23, thanks to Big Day at the Lake. The 12th annual day of swimming, tubing, mentoring and community building culminated in a picnic for some 600 Littles, Bigs, Boat Hosts and volunteers at Duke Energy Explorium.

Literally hundreds of Boat Hosts and 80 volunteers made it happen.

Pat Golden has been a Boat Host for 10 years. “I get more out of it than the kids. I had a great mentor-father-coach growing up and it truly influenced my life. To see the smiles on these young children’s faces when they experience a boat ride or a tube ride is second to none,” he said. “We take things for granted in life and we are truly blessed to live the lives we lead.”

July 23 was officially Big Day at the Lake Day as well, thanks to elected officials in North Carolina, Mecklenburg County and Cornelius who issued proclamations.

Big Day at the Lake
Organizing Committee

Auctions: Liz Marlow

Boat Hosts: Scarlett Hays

Event Planning: Heidi Hansen

Food: Tracy Yochum

Fundraising: Della Stafford

Design/Support: Stephen Nance

Event Logistics: Brad Daubenmire

Picnic: Angela Swett

Picnic Logistics: Chris Epps

Public Relations: Dave Vieser

Secretary: Gail Williams

Social media: Marcia Lynn

Volunteers: Jennifer Kraftchick

Local restaurants and vendors also made it happen. Mama’s Pizza provided 100 hot fresh pies; Big Bite’z, buckets of fresh cole slaw; Port City Club, 600 hot dogs; Brixx, deep serving trays of hot pasta and salad; Tenders, well, tenders; and Bruster’s Ice Cream, from vanilla to peanut butter.

It was an amazing operation logistically speaking, with enough food to feed an army and plenty of volunteers, some of them teams from Kiwanis, Charlotte Country Day and Lake Norman Realty.

Charlotte Party Rentals provided water slides and a bounce house—otherwise known as “inflatable apparatus equipment” in the party rental industry. There was an official greeter on the picnic grounds, 600 Big Day at the Lake t-shirts, two hip dee-jays and plenty to do at the PayPal tents.

PayPal and Champion Tire were once again the Presenting Sponsors of Big Day at the Lake, but there were literally hundreds of donors to the community-based organization that has three simple goals:

• Provide a day of fun on the lake for at-risk kids in Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Recruit “Bigs,” or mentors for BBBS kids.
• Raise money for a worthy, well-run non-profit that is not duplicating services provided by an older, larger organization.

Raise money we did. Thanks to a generous community, one that wants to see everyone get a chance, Big Day at the Lake raised more than $103,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

It’s all about bringing people together who would not otherwise meet and form relationships across communities. Everyone recognizes that, the more privileged, the political leaders and the First Responders—the Cornelius Police Department and the Cornelius-Lemley Fire Department had their boats on scene and gave tours.

All this happened in spite of 94-degree temperatures. As the picnic was ending at 3:30 p.m., there were still lines at PayPal’s booth where kids made colorful hands out of warm wax.

There were hundreds of moving parts, hundreds of smiles and generous people from all walks of life came together around kids.

“One of my favorite days of the summer each year is Big Day at the Lake. We are lucky to share our day with some very special Bigs and Littles and have built life-long friendships,” says Lynn Manis, a long-time Boat Host.

Thank you Volunteers! Caitlin Sellers, Susan Daubenmire, Emily Daubenmire, Richard Pappas, Victoria Jankoski, Valerie Hillman, Fahad Firdausi, Heidi Hansen Tischer, Kellee Crofutt, Robert Rickard, John Aneralla, Drew Witman, Robin Pugh, Sarah Cothren, Alyssa Ferri, Mary Eagens, Ryan Robinson, Maggie Salemme, Victoria Jankoski, Valerie Hillman, Natasha Marcus, Kaitlyn Brown, Thomas Smith, John Donnelly, Jennifer Spence, Will Putnam, Abigail Huffman, Will Putnam, Debra Allebach, Kim Snyder, Janet Gillman, Cathy Bentz, Jim Duke, Bob Van Buskirk, Debbie Monroe, Brenda Hall, Carrie Lewis, Woody Washam, Sharon Washam, Vicki Kerecman, Joni Dunn, Victoria Jankoski, Valerie Hillman, Carrie Lewis, Drew Witman, Nickolas Jordan, Gary Garcia, Kevin Poole, LKN Young Professionals, Lake Norman Realty, Lake Norman Kiwanis, Country Day Football Team

Thank you Boat Hosts! Fred Heck, Dan Williams Marty Fox, Terry Edmundson, Dennis Kazmierczak, Jeremy Yaekel, Karen and Todd Vance, Chris Cawley, George Brinzey, Peter Boyd, Bill Huertas, Bob Tubbs, Bob and Diane Smith, Charles Ventimiglia, Chris and Gina Fieber, Douglas Marion, Jason Hall, John and Stephanie LaStella, Jose Edwards, Larry and Debbie Vandeventer, Rob Walley, Rocky and Kim Mehta, Ryan Riggleman, Steve Stephenson, Eric and Elaine, Hartwick, John Signet, Dennis Sorenson, Elizabeth Hickey, Brian Buckley, Josh Dobi, Calvin Newman, Katy Bartley, Mike Bartely, Larry W. Riggs, Jim Leonard, Tom Simonson, Rob Eby, Mike Dunn, Denis Schmider, David Yochum, April Beckman, Robert and Jill Holman, Sebastian Williams, Karla Meador, Michael  Saxton, Kate Gaither, Kevin Weisner, Michael Miller, Kevin Mikeworth, Jonathan and Carmen Canady, Sid Foushee, Megan and Alex Chasnis, Steve Paynter, Alicia & Adam Bowman, Blake Schell, Bob Hallman, Brian Sisson, Brian Coffey, Brian Gladys, Brian Hines, Carl Hornug, Carol and David Houle, Charles Knoedler, Colin Furcht, Dave Patrick, David Falvey, David Scattergood, Derik Harris, Dominick J Carbone, Elizabeth & Mark Miescher-Clemens, Gary Fagan, Greg & Donna Sobiech, J.C. Stevens, James Kennedy, Jared Barrow, Jeff Riecken, Jeff &, Crystal Sossoman, Jeffrey Blum, Jill Gaillard, Jim Owens, Joe Miller, John McClelland, Jonathan Garrick, Kenneth Ziegler, Kevin Shea, Kirk Beatty, Kyle & Linda Taylor, Laura Cleavenger, Liza Grainda, Marc Jacobsen, Michelle Kibel, Mike Harms, Mike Hartnett, Mike McClelland, Mike Carlet, Mike Snowdy, Nancy Kura, Noreen O’Reilly Morris, Pat Golden, Paul Newton, Paul W Hassler, Randall Lawrence, Rick Cushing, Rick and Jeanette Stikleleather, Rod Woodard, Ron Bruce, Scarlett Hays, Sean Higbea, Stafford Bailey, Steve DeGraw, Steven Landau, Tara Grist, Tim Beck, Tom and Ann Dutton, Tracey and Dan Stehle, Vincent Watkins