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| Bright sunshine, blue sky and warm temperatures made it a perfect day to gather on the lawn around Big 11 Lake in Kansas City, Kansas. |
Dream Day Camp was the culmination of a month long project titled, "It's In Your Nature". At the beginning of the school year, Cabela's made contact with grade schools in the USD 500 area and invited all of the 5th grade teachers to have their students write an essay on the topic, "My favorite thing to do in the outdoors is…".
The teachers either made the essays a special project or incorporated them into routine schoolwork and then submitted them to Cabela's who posted the papers in their store at Village West.
Cabela's retail marketing manager Jimmy Lopez commented, "When we first reached out to the local Kansas City 5th graders to write to us on why they love the outdoors, we were not sure how many would actually participate. We are happy to report that Cabela’s of Kansas City received 1,000 letters! Thanks to our sponsors, we were able to order a Zebco fishing pole for each 5th Grader. On each pole, we attached a Golden Ticket that invited them and their families to our Dream Day Camp."
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| Here's one of the 1,000 essays that were received. |
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| The essays filled both sides of a display board that stretched 75 feet through Cabela's store. |
On Saturday, I was impressed to find dozens of Cabela's employees volunteering at the Big 11 event. They welcomed attendees, orchestrated games, did face painting, served lunch and gave each of the kids first hand experience with fishing, archery and BB guns.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Big 11 Lake, it sits between 10th and 11th Streets and between State Avenue and Washington Boulevard just west of the Kansas City, Kansas downtown.
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| (You can click this and all photos to enlarge them for better viewing.) |
The Friends of the Kaw have a page devoted to Big 11 Lake on their website and report, "Big Eleven Lake may be little, but it has a long and rich history. Built in 1911 as part of the Waterway Park Complex, it is the last remnant of a once big and beautiful park."
Here are a few more pictures of the activities that took place Saturday. Huge thanks to Cabela's for sponsoring and hosting this wonderful event for the benefit of our youth.
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| Volunteers helped set up the fishing poles that students brought with them to the lake. They gave the students instructions on how to bait a hook, cast a line and reel in the big one. |
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| With a box of fresh worms at his side, even the general manager of the local store helped get the students started. |
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| The bow is almost as big as he is, but two volunteers helped this young man hit the target with a bow and arrow. |
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| It may look like a "bounce house" inflatable for a party, but this is actually a portable shooting range for BB guns. |
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| With safety glasses in place, a volunteer gives this young lady tips on how to hit the target (visible through the small opening in the screen). |
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| Lunch is served! |
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| A huge flock of ducks noticed the activity on the lake and settled in to watch! |
Have a great week!
~ Brian
bmckiernan@wycokck.org
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