by Mary Loden
United to Serve with Passion and Purpose and One Vision are bringing Bash at the Lake to Clear Lake City Park on Saturday, July 29. This free family fun event promises to create unforgettable memories.
The event will get started at 11 a.m. and continue all the way to 8:30 p.m. This fun-filled day will feature Christian bands, games and activities for all ages and abilities, and food vendors, including a mobile Chick-Fil-A from Rochester, Minn.
United to Serve with Passion and Purpose – whose founder and CEO is Brad Barber, co-founder of Cabin Coffee Company – presented a workshop in March, in which committee members, along with the Chamber of Commerce brainstormed possibilities.
“The Chamber has been on board every step of the way to assist and advise to ensure a successful event,” said Stacy Doughan, Chamber of Commerce CEO.
According to Jaime Copley, an event committee member, “This event continues what was started by Bash on the Farm, a previously successful Christian North Iowa musical festival,” she wrote.
A week-long vacation Bible school, which is open to the public, will be held prior to the event using the Go Fish curriculum. The VBS will be held at Zion Lutheran Church at The Dock, 500 Main Ave. Go Fish, a high-energy, family oriented band, wrote the curriculum and will perform at the City Park Bandshell stage at 3 p.m. Local musicians Awaken the Dust will bring a powerful performance to the stage at 5 p.m., while headliner Rend Collective will perform at 6:30 p.m.
Rend Collective, a Northern Irish Christian folk rock worship band, promises to create an extraordinary experience to ensure the longevity of Bash at the Lake and will have families rocking the night away.
Former KIMT-TV meteorologist Adam Frederick will present his Weather Guy Science at 1:30 p.m. and CL Tel COO Chris Lovell and his wife, Social Media manager Morgan Lovell will be sharing “A Story of Faith Through Childhood Cancer,” about their daughter Adeline at 2:45 p.m.
The whole day is planned to spark joy, ignite memories, and build community in a positive, faith-filled environment Copley said.
When the groups came together in March, One Vision CDO Janet Johnson said, “We were both planning events, so we came together and decided, ‘let’s plan one instead of two.’ We can bring something to the table that speaks of inclusiveness. Just everyone having a wonderful day.”
One Vision organized all the activities – for all abilities and all ages.
Johnson said Wayne Ski & Cycle will be providing Strider balance bikes and a bicycle course for the youngest and/or physically challenged festival goers. Harvest Church is bringing in the inflatables, and of course there will be face painting, as well as lawn and yard games, such as lawn checkers and GaGa Ball.
For the young – and young at heart – the North Iowa Children’s Museum in Coralville, Iowa will be setting up some of their most popular interactive exhibits like giant spinning gears, magnetic gears, and giant simple machines.
For children with autism, who may get a little over stimulated, Johnson said a sensory room will be provided.
One Vision will hold a fundraiser with a couple of crowd favorites, beginning at 11:15 a.m. Try your pitching skills at the Dunk Tank and dunk your favorite city and community leaders and sign up to participate in the Human Foosball Tournament
“This Festival has united many volunteers from North Iowa businesses, churches, and other organizations, to work together to make this dream a reality,” Copley said.
“Truthfully, the planning group is a little blown out of the water with how this event has amazingly come together,” commented Doughan. “This event, which many have commented should take a year to plan, has remarkably come together in just under three months through the generosity of financial donations and volunteer hours of the people of Clear Lake and surrounding communities. The talents and experiences of individual planning committee members has taken on a synergy few of us have experienced previously.”
“I’ve worked with a lot of event planning over the years. This event should fail because of the short timeline for planning, but God is in control of this,” Johnson said at a recent planning committee meeting when she summed up the collaborative work. “This is truly a miracle in every sense. There is not one person around this table that is taking the credit. We are all giving the glory back to God.”
