Hundreds enjoy Lakefest at Atascadero Lake Park
Event returns after two-year hiatus
– Hundreds of people attended Lakefest at Atascadero Lake Park Saturday. The event is put on annually by the Friends of the Lake to enhance awareness about the lake. Nancy Hair of the Friends of the Lake says, “This is not a fundraiser, but we have a lot of fun.”
More than 40 booths turned the park into a Children’s Day at the Park. Kids fired plastic bullets at targets at a booth by the SLO Legal Assistance Foundation. Others painted rocks to replace rocks that have disappeared from the rock snake which winds around the lake. The optimists had a putting green to introduce kids to golf. There was face-painting, glitter tattoos, bounce houses, and other fun stuff for kids.
The Friends of the Lake hosted a fishing derby with awards for the largest fish caught on Saturday.
The highlight, however, was the kids’ boat race with cardboard boats they constructed at the lake out of cardboard and duct tape. Eleven-year-old Carson Savino of Atascadero prevailed, thanks to the engineering genius of his older brother and Zach’s friends from the Atascadero Water Polo Team. Carson paddled a cardboard “patio boat” around a marker and returned to the beach to win the event.
The creativity and joy of the kids participating inspired memories of Huck Finn. It gave them a personal experience with Atascadero Lake which they may cherish for years to come. Hair said, “Hopefully, they will help preserve its beauty and importance as a habitat to so many fish, birds, and other wildlife.”
Lakefest is back after a two-year hiatus, and people welcomed it to Atascadero Lake Park with enthusiasm.
-Story and photos by Richard Mason