Watch cardboard boat race at Atascadero LakeFest as 4-year-old boy takes a spill
Atascadero celebrated its sixth LakeFest and Children’s Day in the Park on Saturday with a variety of fun events and activities.
A winter of record rains filled Atascadero Lake, creating great conditions for the annual celebration.
As always, the highlight of the event was the cardboard boat regatta, which included both an open class and a kids class.
The first-place winners of the adult race were Sterling and Cynthia Bullard and their children Colton, 4, and Russell, 2, along Cynthia Bullard’s brother Paul Shannon and his children Dean, 6, and Jack, 3. All are from Atascadero.
The group was furiously paddling in a cardboard boat named Duck Yeah when the boat spilled Colton Bullard into the lake.
“Colton was paddling and the duck’s wing folded over and he fell in,” Cynthia Bullard said.
Colton was retrieved in seconds by the lifeguards. All race participants wore life vests and there were lifeguards on paddle boards standing by.
The second place winner was Bill Hair of Atascadero, whose cardboard boat was named The Big Duck
The event also featured a fishing derby, live music, kids activities, food and two-for-one tickets to the Charles Paddock Zoo.
