PITTSBURGH – A boy named Michael jumped and spun in the air wearing earmuffs and two sets of sunglasses. The muffs helped reduce his sound sensitivity, but the double pairs of sunglasses were just for style. As the music changed, Michael dove on the grass, grabbed a pile of sandbags and started dunking them into a cornhole board at close range.
Nearly 500 people had spilled out of school buses and vans to attend the Youghiogheny River Lake’s 50th anniversary of Special Recreation Day, an annual event tailored specifically for children and adults with special needs.
“It’s a great day because folks get to experience the outdoors and see what we have to offer. We go out of our way to make it accessible for them,” said Vince Klinkner, the resource manager at Youghiogheny River Lake who has worked onsite for 13 years.
“To see their joy makes all the planning worth it,” Klinkner said.
Kids teamed up to pop bubbles flying out of an electric blower. Next to them, high school volunteers scooped fresh popcorn to hand out bags of snacks. Across the grassy field, park rangers laid out animal furs for guests to touch.
“Feel his paw. It feels nice, doesn’t it?” said Emily Potter as she invited someone over.
Their hands ran up and down the fur together, enjoying the pelts’ softness.
“Be careful of the claws, though. They look sharp,” someone cautioned.
At the hayride, volunteers and workers helped passengers in wheelchairs climb aboard a tractor trailer, making room for their chairs among the bales of hay. The red tractor puttered, doing laps around camp sites. Walt Kinsey, a volunteer who travelled with his wife from across the state to be here, played guitar and sang campfire songs for everyone to join along.
“Our rangers and employees did awesome work delivering these types of experiences for the American People,” said Col. Nicholas Melin, the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District, which is responsible for hosting the annual event in Confluence, Pennsylvania.
This was the first time Melin attended the event as the district’s commander, but he said it meant a lot to him personally because he grew up having a family member with special needs.
“I still remember these types of events many years later. Those are the sorts of memories this event gives to young people. Awesome work,” Melin said, commending everyone who made the day possible.
The Youghiogheny Lake staff organized the yearly event with help from the Lions Club International, Friends for the Youghiogheny River Lake, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pennsylvania Waterways Conservation Officers, Turkeyfoot High School, local volunteers, and staff from across the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District.
Special Recreation Day included other activities like fishing at a pond stocked with trout, face painting, carnival games, boat rides on the lake, dancing and more. Community partners also provided lunch for everyone.
The line for lunch was longer than in previous years, but as music filled the warm air, a woman with Down syndrome hooked arms with another woman to spin around in circles, making the most of their wait.
Volunteers served hot dogs with generous sides of coleslaw, baked beans and potato salad. At the end of the food line, several bins of homemade cookies awaited the hungry guests.
“Can I have two?” a boy asked, eyeing out the chocolate chip cookies.
“Sure!” a volunteer responded, giving him permission.
Shaylin Dresher, a park ranger at Youghiogheny River Lake, had baked cookies for several days to make sure she brought enough for everyone. Typically, the event attracts around 300 people, but this year she made sure to prepare for the extra guests.
“I just hope they remember how amazing this day truly is by opening our recreation area to everybody,” Dresher said.
Dresher not only baked cookies, but she led the planning for this year’s celebration. Her planning started in January by coordinating with local groups, schools and skills day centers to make the 50th anniversary a success.
“The biggest challenge is contact information often changes, so this year I was really adamant about calling each school and each center to make sure they were coming,” Dresher said.
Additionally, the lake faced serious challenges just a few weeks before the anniversary. The region experienced heavy rain, and the lake’s water level was 17 feet above summer pool. This meant various recreation areas went under water, leaving behind a debris of thick leaves, branches, trash and large logs. Park rangers and maintenance teams worked extra hard to clear the recreational sites in time for this special day.
“On top of that, we also went out on pontoon boats to move logs from the lake,” Dreshers said of the team’s cleanup efforts.
The event takes place in early May each year, which can lead to unpredictable weather in Western Pennsylvania. This year, the day’s warmth felt closer to summertime than a muggy spring day, brining many more people to Youghiogheny River Lake than previous years.
“It’s very rewarding to see how many people showed up, and to know we helped bring everybody together,” Dresher said. “It makes me so happy, and the beautiful weather was the cherry on top.”