Officials at Lake Stephens say they’ll just keep adding things to do. Folks gathered at the Lake on Saturday to celebrate summer with a blast and to check out new attractions in the area.
“It’s our seventh annual Beach Blast that we usually put on every year in June,” Raleigh County Recreation Authority Director Michelle Walker said. “We have the carnival here for the second year in a row that is provided by Myer’s Amusements.
“We have live music and vendors set up selling their items. We have informational booths like the National Guard and Bradley Volunteer Fire Department.”
Walker said the Beach Blast started as a way to get all sorts of fun together in one place.
“We have the fair in Lewisburg, but we wanted to set something up that’s closer to home so that the surrounding counties could come and enjoy,” she said. “The most popular thing for the last two years has been the carnival. Typically, from 11 to 4 we put on activities down at the beach. That’s very popular with all the children.”
Lake Stephens also recently added a paintball park.
“This year is the first year that we put in a paintball park in our overflow area,” Walker said. “We offer all the equipment. If people just want to try it, we rent all the equipment that you need to try it. It’s great for birthday parties. Adults love it too. We’ve also built more cabins. We’re up to seven cabins now.
“Down in this area there’s not a lot to do. We’re trying to give children and adults something better to do. Teenagers and adults love it. We thought that if we put in a paintball park then it would help give the public and our campers something to do.”
By this time next year, there will be even more wet and wild fun at the Lake, Walker said.
“We are working on a sprinkler splash park that’ll be in here next season,” she said. “We do have the beach that’s free to the public. It’s open every day from 11 to 7. We hope to put the sprinkler splash pad park above the beach. That’s good for all ages, from the toddlers to the elderly.
“A sprinkler splash pad park is an area that has no standing water. There are all sorts of different designs that spit out water. The kids can run through them. There are slides that spray water on them too. There’s no standing water. It drains away.”
The Beach Blast is now a three-day event, Walker said.
“Last year and this year we started making it a three day event, from Friday to Sunday. (Today) we have church service at 10 a.m. and gospel singing from thereafter. The carnival will be here from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. also.
“We have a Facebook page where we put all of our upcoming events, whether they’’re going on at Lake Stephens or Fitzpatrick Park. We list times and dates and what’s going to be happening on our Facebook page.”
One local group was using the crowd as a chance to recruit fine men and women to help keep us safe.
“We’re set up here trying to recruit volunteer firefighters across the region,” Bradley-Prosperity Fire Department Recruiter Bobby Palmer said. “We run the 1-800-FIRE-LINE program.
“We travel to events all across the state and try to recruit firefighters. It’s a toll-free number that comes in to our call center. We can refer people to a volunteer fire department in their area. You can use it anywhere in the state.”
Palmer said volunteer firefighters are in short supply right now.
“Departments across the state are in desperate need of them,” he said. “Volunteering is something that’s hard to get people to do. We’re just trying to get more people involved.”
For more information about Lake Stephens and its attractions, visit their page on Facebook at “Lake Stephens — RCRA.”
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