Scott Swanson
The collection of watercraft in the Sunnyside boat ramp parking lot early Monday morning, July 28, was impressive even to a novice in the high-performance boat world.
Thirty-eight boats, all of them ski and jet boats worth at least five figures, crowded the lot on trailers parked in neat rows, towed by shiny pickups and SUV’s, most with tubes and wakeboards piled in the back.
Despite appearances, this wasn’t a high-end day at the lake or extreme water sports extravaganza.
It was Wake the World, a seven-year-old effort to provide kindness to foster children and their families.
“This is awesome,” said Greg Hodgin, who founded Wake the World in North Carolina in 2008. “What a great-looking parking lot.”
He said that the events range from Foster Lake, on the high end of participation, to one in North Carolina run by an individual woman who lives on a lake and brings in five boats, serving participants a meal in her own home.
“This is the other extreme,” Hodgin said. “It’s incredible to see the love you guys share with other people.”
WTW began in 2008 with eight families providing a day on the lake for some residents of a local children’s home. This year, 39 events nationwide are listed on WTW website, waketheworld.org, ranging through 23 states and Canada.
Castronovo said he has coordinated three of the events in Oregon, all at Foster Lake.
He said after telling Hodgins he was going to start a WTW event in Oregon, “I just sat back at my computer and it was one of the moments when I said, ‘What did I just do?’”
He realized he had a contact in the state Department of Human Services, Billy Cordero.
“I knew him from church. I went up to him one day and said, ‘Here’s this idea. Are you in?’ He was really excited.”
He had his kids, so now he needed to start lining up donors, boats and drivers, Castronovo said.
“I’ve been in Salem 30 to 40 years. I’ve done a lot of business here. I went to car dealers, insurance companies, dentists, all the way down the list.
“The cool thing about this deal, everybody has somebody. ‘Hey, I’m going to tell this to this guy.’
People networking, having connections. Next thing you know, you have everything taken care of. “It’s a community effort. When kids are involved, everybody wants to help out. That’s pretty much it.”
This year the children each got a backpack filled with school supplies, donated by Staples. They got shoes donated by Nike. Castronovo ran a year-long clothing drive to outfit them.
“We don’t do cheap stuff,” he said. “I want them to have nice stuff. I hate to say it, but people judge you by what you wear.
“My budget was pretty big this year. I think we had $60 left over. You won’t believe how much ice and water you need on 90-degree day. Safeway in Sweet Home gave us a discount.”
The event also included dinner for the children and their foster families, at Lewis Creek Park.
“I grew up going to Foster Lake as a kid,” he said, adding jokingly, “I didn’t know the name would correspond for foster kids.”
He said this year’s event was complicated by debris that filled the lake, probably because water had been let out immediately before the event, drawing logs and large “garbage” in.
“We’ve never had logs like this before,” Castronovo said. “We’re talking trees, not sticks. The boat drivers tied ropes to the logs and towed them to shore.”
But there were no accidents involving “garbage” and only a couple of boats had mechanical issues – a broken axle in one case and a broken serpentine belt on another.
“I use my boat as a back-up,” Castronovo said.
He said he’s maxed out on boats and drivers.
“We had 38. We could have had 50. But that lake’s only so big.”
He said some boat owners are planning to start events in southern Oregon and a second Oregon Wake the World will be held this year, in the Portland area.
Although some of the 139 young participants, who ranged from infants to teenagers, actually tried wakeboarding, most were just content to be towed on tubes or simply jump off the boats into the lake.
Castronovo said the following letter from a foster mother sums up what Wake the World is really about:
“When else do foster children and their foster families get treated to a day of boating and gifts and great food – all free? All foster fams have to do is show up.
“I think one of the reasons it’s so unusual is that it’s a real mix up of socioeconomic. To put it a little crassly, rich people treat us to a day of R&R on their boats. And they don’t just treat the fosters to the boat, they embrace them – literally and figuratively – into their lives, honoring them, respecting them and clearly showing them that they admire them.
“In the three years that I have been bringing foster children to this event, I have only had boat owners be fun, kind and respectful to my wild, willful children. They let my kids drive the boat, ride all the boat toys and they load their boats up with snacks and water for us. I really can’t put into words how well we are treated.
“Foster kids do not get a lot of indulgences. It is such a blessing to bring them to this event where all the kids are loved and admired. It can be life-changing. These kids see a different life than they typically see and a life that feels achievable on this day.
“What can I say? Wake the World is changing lives. One boat at a time.”
Castronovo estimated that the value of the boats at Sunnyside for this year’s event was “probably a couple of million dollars.”
“These are just people who care about these kids,” he said. “We bring a lot of people. A lot of them camp here. We had a boat owners appreciation barbecue before the event and about 60 of us were there.
“But once you’re there on the lake, you don’t have time to talk to anybody. This is all about kids.”