Columnist Paula DelGiudice: Lake Mead festival spotlights water safety

Paula DelGiudice's outdoors notebook appears Wednesday. Reach her at [email protected].

The first Water Safety Festival is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Lake Mead Special Events Beach, just north of Hemenway along the western shore of Lake Mead. The two-day event will feature a number of activities that will help boaters and those using paddle craft or personal watercraft be safe on the water this summer.

On the schedule are activities for both adults and children, including a scavenger hunt, life-jacket relay, rescue relay races and a cardboard boat building contest/race.

There will be several demonstrations such as: how to use visual distress signals, how to use fire extinguishers, the use of dive flags, how to use emergency equipment and marine band radios, safe fueling and how to use other safety equipment such as life jackets.

Each day at 10:30 a.m., participants can learn Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), how to sail, how to use personal watercraft, how to fish and more about paddle sports.

A "drive and ride" course has been designed with safety and fun in mind for those who use paddle craft, power boats and personal watercraft.

Many displays are scheduled. Some include those by boat dealers and safety displays for boaters, swimmers and SCUBA divers. Several displays will feature equipment used in some water sports, such as diving.

The Las Vegas Search and Rescue Team will present a mock rescue at the end of each day. Nellis Air Force Base Search and Rescue crews also will be on hand to demonstrate their abilities. Boaters can receive a free safety inspection of their boats at Hemenway Ramp during both days.

The sponsors for the event include the Desert Valley Water Safety Council, Clark County Parks & Recreation Department, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Nevada Division of Wildlife, National Park Service, Dow Industries, Lake Mead Resort Marina, Las Vegas Bay Marina, Lake Mead Boat Owners Association, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary 0907, Abaltex, DeNardi Fasteners, Inc., Hertz Equipment Rentals and the U.S. Power Squadron.

The event will be emceed by Barb Henderson, outdoors writer and TV/radio personality. There will be entertainment, food and prizes for participants.

For more information about the location or schedule of events, call the Alan Bible Visitor Center at Lake Mead at 293-8906.

* WHIN BANQUET: Tickets are on sale for the Eighth Annual Fundraising Banquet of Wildlife and Habitat Improvement of Nevada (WHIN). The banquet is slated for June 12 at the Gold Coast Hotel.

The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. with displays, dinner, games, auctions and raffles for a variety of guns, hunting gadgets, fishing gear, outdoor equipment and art work. The highlight of the evening will be the auctioning of the prestigious 1999 Nevada Wildlife Heritage mule deer tag that permits the hunter to go afield in any open area to pursue Nevada's trophy bucks.

"We expect the bidding to be exciting with all proceeds to go into the Wildlife Heritage Trust Account for future wildlife habitat improvement projects," said WHIN president Dennis Selleck.

The costs of the banquet tickets are $50 per person or $80 per couple. For a reserved table of 10, the costs is $500. The organization also is looking auction or raffle item sponsors and corporate sponsors.

For more information, contact Selleck at 451-1416 or Wayne Bliss at 736-4182.

* MAILMAN GOES FISHING: National Fishing Week's Honorary Chairman this year will be NBA great Karl Malone. The theme for this year's fishing week, scheduled for June 5-13, is "Everyone Can Play." As chairman, Malone is encouraging everyone to celebrate by wetting a line with a child or a friend.

"As adults, we are all role models, whether we want to be or not," Malone said. "For that reason, I want kids to know that Karl Malone likes to fish and that it is a cool way to have fun, learn more about nature and spend time with families.

"If kids spend more time in the outdoors fishing, they'll spend less time getting into trouble. In the outdoors, you really get a chance to appreciate life and see how there is so much to the world around us than just the neighborhood or basketball court."

Typically, Free Fishing Day is scheduled during National Fishing Week. It is a great opportunity for parents to introduce their children to fishing on a day when a fishing license isn't required.

In Nevada, Free Fishing Day is slated for June 12.

For more information about National Fishing Week, visit the "ofishal" National Fishing Week website at http://www.gofishing.org. The site provides a list of state designated Free Fishing Days and a national directory of fishing events.

You'll also find tips for taking kids fishing, proper catch and release techniques, angling ethics and a complete national database of places to go fishing on public lands.

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