Smiles return with Lake Palestine Adaptive Aquafest

Published 5:30 am Tuesday, June 29, 2021

The Lake Palestine Adaptive Aquafest not only made a comeback, but put smiles on the faces of several East Texas families.

Texas Adaptive Aquatics hosted the ninth annual event on Saturday which went on hold a year due to COVID-19. The event gives children and adults with disabilities an opportunity to water ski, tub ride and go on pontoon boat rides at Lake Palestine. 

Roger Randall, president and founder of Texas Adaptive Aquatics, expressed the importance of the yearly event.

“Normally a lot of people that are in a wheelchair, if they go riding or skiing with their families and friends they are normally stuck on a boat not being able to do anything,” Randall said. “Now it’s their turn, we have all the specialized equipment, it gives them that opportunity to get out and have a good time.

“It’s fantastic, we get to be out and about and see people who we haven’t seen in two years. It’s really fun, it’s really great, it gives them a welcome smile on their face so we love it,” Randall added. 

Participants are properly equipped and Texas Adaptive Aquatics provides everything for participants to be able to safely enjoy a day at the lake.

With the help of two professional skiers and professional equipment for participants, water skiing is the most popular aspect of this event. The equipment allows the adults and children to be any size and any age to enjoy the fun. 

“We have different sized sit skis, different styles for beginning, intermediate and competition,” Randall said. “It all depends on their ability and then we have cages that we put on top of the ski and it fits on everybody, of all different types of sizes from kids to bigger adults. We have all the adaptive equipment that fits everybody.”

Thanks to donations and sponsorships, the event is free to the public and participants. It is a first-come, first-serve event.

Potential participants can keep up with the events through the website (taasports.org) and potential donors can help fund the event and at their facebook at Texas Adaptive Sports Tyler. 

Photo Gallery from this years event: 

Visual Videos from this years event: 

Here is our coverage from the 2019 event.

Coverage and photos from the 2016 event