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(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Those big and small attended the annual Family Fun and Fishing event in 2024 at Firemen’s Park in Graham. The fishing tournament will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 26 at Firemen Park. -
(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Aaron Terasas fits a life jacket for a visitor at the 2024 Family Fun and Fishing event at Firemen’s Park in Graham. The event this year will be held at the same location Saturday, April 26. -
(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Visitors to the Family Fun and Fishing event in 2024 fish in the Firemen’s Park pond as part of an annual tournament. During the event, free fishing poles, bait and life jackets are distributed for participants to keep.
Family awareness and water safety are only part of the annual Family Fun and Fishing event which will be held next weekend at Firemen’s Park.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 26 offering free life jackets for children, safety lessons, games, food, refreshments and activities. Alongside the event will be the KidFish fishing tournament held from 10 a.m. to noon.
The Remembering Wyatt Dale Water Safety Awareness organization hosts the event each year and seeks to spread the message of water safety and provide life jackets for all children.
Last year, a total of 400 life jackets, fishing poles and bait were given away to children who participated in the event.
“It was neat to be able to look up and see all the families out there lined up and those of all ages lined up along the edge of that water,” Wyatt Dale co-founder Tracey Terasas said. “It was just the neatest thing to see those families fishing together and wearing life jackets.”
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.
“I never wanted anyone to forget Wyatt and his name and his story. ...My heart was to teach them young so it would teach them for a lifetime,” Terasas said. “...He’s definitely not forgotten, and his little life has touched a lot of families and a lot of children.”
The organization has been able to provide life jackets to over 2,500 children through events like Family Fun and Fishing. In addition to life jackets, the organization also provides families with scholarships for swimming lessons across the country.
Along with receiving a free life jacket at the event, families can bring gently used life jackets and exchange them for a new one.
Different organizations will be set up at the event providing different forms of safety instruction such as vehicle heat safety and bathtub safety.
Also at the event will be water slides, a dunk tank fundraiser, face painting from the Graham High School Bella Blues and cheerleaders, an introduction by Graham Mayor Alex Heartfield and more.
The KidFish fishing tournament will be open to all children 12 and under with limited poles and bait available for free.
Children can fish around the Firemen's Park duck pond which will be stocked with fish before the event next Saturday.
For more information about the event, visit the Remembering Wyatt Dale Water Safety organization Facebook page or their website at rememberingwyattdale.org.
