July 3, 2017 at 10:27 a.m.
Northwoods individuals ready for the water
Cypress Gardens Water Ski Club will host adaptive clinic and evening show
Northwoods individuals ready for the water
By By Raymond T. Rivard-
"Last year, we held a program in Rhinelander on Boom Lake and it was attended by 15-to-20 disabled persons. It was a great event that touched a lot of people's lives. It was really neat," Andrew Petzold, a member of the Cypress Gardens Water Ski Club, said in describing why the event will once again come to the Northwoods.
It was Petzold's daughter, Grace, a sophomore in high school, who organized and has spearheaded the formation of Graceful Wakes, Inc., a non-profit 501c3 organization. Graceful Wakes will be the beneficiary of proceeds raised from the Cypress Gardens Water Ski Team's performance on Friday night.
But why does an established water ski team from Florida want to come to the Northwoods to help the disabled and to present a show?
After all, it is a 1,550-mile trek to Conover - one which takes just over 22 hours by car.
There is a local connection. Petzold said they have a place near Rhinelander and Grace spends most of July and part of August skiing with the Chain Skimmers.
Because of that, they have convinced many members of the club to come north this year for the special day.
While Petzold said the draw of the Northwoods is appealing, the chance to hold a clinic in an area where something like this doesn't occur often was another factor.
It's a chance to help people love what they love to do - water ski.
"This year we're expanding upon what we did in Rhinelander last year ...," Petzold said.
The second annual Graceful Wakes Adaptive Water Ski Clinic will kick off the day at Lake Pleasant.
"We're going to have two parts to this year's program. The first thing is we're having the adaptive water ski event ... at the Chain Skimmers Water Ski Club's site on Lake Pleasant in Conover. Graceful Wakes will put on an adaptive water ski event and as of today (Thursday, June 29) we have already had 29 individuals signed up," Petzold said. "These are local individuals who have disabilities and will participate in this adaptive event where they get to be on the water skiing, tubing, or on pontoon boat rides."
But what's really special is that some of the members from the Cypress Gardens Water Ski Team in Winter Haven, Fla., about 15-to-20 of them, are coming up to Eagle River to participate in the adaptive event, then also to put on a special benefit show that evening at 6 p.m. The show will be open to the public and proceeds will benefit the Graceful Wakes organization.
Those who attend will see the "aquamaids" performing ballet on the water, jumpers doing tricks, a kite soaring through the sky, human pyramids, and couples working together to perform stunts.
The show will also feature former and current national barefoot water ski champions. Admission is $7. Concessions will also be available for purchase.
"I feel so blessed to have many of my team members from the Cypress Gardens Water Ski Team come up to support me and help out during the adaptive water ski clinic," Grace Petzold said.
"On top of that, they will be putting on the water ski show to benefit Graceful Wakes, which will be a real treat for everyone who comes to watch. We are thrilled to be able to provide the opportunity to get on the water and experience the pleasure of waterskiing for 30 local residents. They will be able to ski using a specially-designed adaptive ski, tube, or go on pontoon boat rides."
Adaptive ski clinic
Andrew Petzold went on to explain more about the adaptive ski clinic being presented.
"The clinics we put on are free. We don't charge the participants anything for these events, which include all day on the water, lunch, and other events during the day," he said. "One of the unique parts of the story is that many of these individuals from the Cypress Gardens Water Ski Team spent their summers in Eagle River. They helped create the Chain Skimmers and actually were involved in buying the lake where they are located. So, it's a bit of a homecoming of sorts for many of them who have gone on to ski professionally. Many of them moved to Florida to ski at Cypress Gardens and Sea World and other professional shows."
The funds raised through this weekend's event will go to help the Cypress Gardens team purchase new equipment to help them in coming up with inventive ways to get the disabled out onto the water.
"It takes several thousand dollars to put on an event of this size with 30 people. The cost includes the equipment, the insurance, the food ... everything," Petzold said.
"Each adaptive ski costs nearly $3,000. This year we spent $5,000 on equipment. These are costs that are most times outside the reach of many disabled to be able to do this type of thing. What we take for granted in being able to go out to the lake to go water skiing - for disabled individuals, it's not that simple," he said.
Part of the club's mission is making sure these events are accessible to everyone in both the financial sense and the physical sense.
Providing a day of fun on the water is something the members of the Cypress Gardens club do well.
"We're all pros and many of those club members involved have done this numerous times," Petzold said.
At the event, participants use a specially-designed adaptive water ski and have two trained side skiers next to them, so they can experience the thrill of water skiing. But more importantly is how serious safety is to those involved. The mission of the group in designing these events is to make sure each individual has an equal chance to get out onto the water and to feel safe in doing so.
"We are very diligent about safety, but also about having fun," Petzold said. "We've been doing this a long time at many different locations. Some of the team members have been doing this type of thing for 20 years at different levels. We're pros at what we're doing."
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