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(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) A child is fitted for a life jacket during the Family Fun and Fishing event in 2024. There will be a life jacket fitting from the Remembering Wyatt Dale Water Safety organization Saturday, June 21.
After the Family Fun and Fishing event was postponed in April, families will have another opportunity this weekend to receive a free fitted life jacket.
The Remembering Wyatt Dale Water Safety organization will be distributing free life jackets from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 21 at The Rock at 300 Elm St. in Graham.
The organization hosts the Family Fun and Fishing event each year and seeks to spread the message of water safety and provide life jackets for all children.
The event was set to be held Saturday, April 26 at Firemen’s Park in Graham but was postponed due to flooding in the park. More information will be released in the future on the other events which will be held later. The life jackets distribution will be the only event Saturday.
On July 7, 2013, the Terasas family lost three-year-old Wyatt Dale Terasas to drowning at a public lake swim area.
Since then, the family has worked to put life jackets on all children and teach water safety locally and around the state.
The postponed Family Fun and Fishing event will mark 10 years of sharing Wyatt’s story to children and families.
The organization has been able to provide life jackets to over 2,000 children through events like Family Fun in the Sun.
In addition to life jackets, the organization also provides families with scholarships for swimming lessons across the country and has established life jacket loaner stations at Lake Graham and Possum Kingdom Lake.
It is the organization’s mission to honor Wyatt by sharing his story and to “Save Lives One Jacket at a Time.”
Co-founder of the organization and grandmother of Wyatt, Tracey Terasas, said after 10 years, the impact of Wyatt’s story keeps the organization committed to its cause.
“His story has touched a lot of lives and a lot of families,” Terasas said in a previous interview. “It won’t bring him back, but having the opportunity to at least try to make a difference in other families lives... (motivates us where) we’re just going to keep doing it.”
