Wakefest draws sizable crowd

ALBANY — Under a beautiful South Georgia summer sky, nearly 500 supporters lined the banks of the Flint River at the Turner Boat Landing Saturday to watch wakeboarders of all skill levels compete in the 2016 Wakefest fundraiser.

This year’s event, which featured competitors in 10 different wakeboarding divisions, from junior beginners all the way to pro-level riders, hosted 53 competitors who spent the day pulling off their best tricks in front of a panel of judges.

“That’s a great number (of riders),” said Wakefest President Adam Gilbert, who developed the event in 2008. “We’ve had more in the past, but that’s a great turnout. I’m blown away. It’s a great day.”

While Gilbert would always love to see more riders, one of the things that especially pleased him about this year’s Wakefest is that it was the first to be a part of the Georgia Wake Series, meaning many of the riders showing off their stuff were professionals who travelled from places like Alabama, Florida and other parts of Georgia.

“I think half of the riders are from out of town, so you can’t be disappointed with that,” Gilbert said. “Teaming up with the Georgia Wake Series has been great. They just created a new wake series, which is a tournament-based series, and that’s brought a lot of riders and opened people’s eyes to it.”

Local resident Steve Julian, who provides wakeboarding lessons through his Outlaw Sports wakeboarding school, has been competing in and volunteering at Wakefest for a number of years. He shared Gilbert’s feelings, saying he was thrilled to see the event drawing more people to the sport.

“That’s why I’m here,” said Julian. “I teach lessons to try and get kids interested and bring them up in the sport. Now that they’ve got this as part of a wakeboard series, it’s really good for the sport locally.”

As impressed as Julian is with exposure Wakefest brings to the sport of wakeboarding and to the local wakeboarding community, he said the most important thing about Wakefest is its purpose of raising money for someone in need.

“They do an excellent job,” Julian said. “It’s very well-organized and the fundraising, they do an awesome job with that, too. I think that’s why this draws a lot of people in.”

This year’s Wakefest beneficiary is 26-year-old Lee Poupard, a Dawson resident with cystic fibrosis who is awaiting a double lung transplant. His mother, Louann Poupard, is still trying to process the outpouring of support brought by Wakefest.

“It means a lot to us,” said Louann Poupard. “Just to know that there are people out there that don’t mind helping even if they don’t know you, it’s just awesome.

“We came out last year, which was the first time we’d come out to watch the competitors. It’s a lot of fun and a big family atmosphere. Also, you’re helping someone out, so I told them they can count me in from now on. I’ll help them any way I can.”

The feelings of family and community are also important to Gilbert, who said he is thrilled that the event is a positive in people’s lives.

“It brings family’s together,” Gilbert said. “With all the hate and crime and stuff going on today, we’ve got in attendance here today probably 4- to 500 people, and there will be no drama, no beef, nobody will have anything bad to say to anybody. We’re all out here for the same reason, to raise money for one family, and so far we’ve done pretty good at it.”

It will take a few weeks before Gilbert knows how much money this year’s Wakefest raised, but said he he feels it will once again exceed goals.

“I want to beat last year every year,” he said. “Last year we did $16,000, and I think we’ll beat it.”