Help break a record on Saturday, May 19th. This is the third annual Ready, Set, Wear It! Life Jacket World Record Day and will take place at T-Bones at the Lake off Highway 49 at the Buster Boyd Bridge in Lake Wylie SC. Arrive early (the event begins at 10 am) to sign the official registration, which is the documentation needed to officially break the record, enjoy a fun day at T-Bones and on Lake Wylie, and help kick off National Safe Boating Week – May 19 – 25. Bring a life jacket and a spare if you can, and be sure to bring all your friends and family to this big day!

Ready, Set, Wear It! Life Jacket World Record Day is sponsored by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, York Co. Sheriff’s Office, Gaston County Police, North Carolina Wildlife, South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources, the National Safe Boating Council and the Canadian Safe Boating Council.

Help the Lake Wylie Lake Enforcement Units spread the word that the lake community is safe and that everyone cares about water safety. For questions or more information, call 704-588-1798 and leave a message.

Hours of operation are: Friday March 16th 9am – 7pm; Saturday March 17th 9am – 7pm; Sunday March 18th 10am – 5pm.

Tickets are available on-line at www.capefearwildlifeexpo.com or can be purchased at the gate.

Kids Gone Wild!  will offer a variety of interactive workshops that students will enjoy.

Middle and high-school students will participate in a variety of hands-on, minds-on workshops on Friday, March 16th intended to foster their interest in science and the great outdoors. Kids will also take to the Expo floor in search of wildlife fun facts and issues affecting some of North Carolina’s most precious resources – North Carolina wildlife and the environment.

A Creative Writing/Visual Arts Contest will offer youth an opportunity to share their enthusiasm.

Gone Wild! Students will also be invited to share what inspired them at this trans-disciplinary, experiential, hands-on, minds-on event with others.   Students will be encouraged to compose a prose, poetry or visual arts project that captures their enthusiasm about what they learned that day.  Award-winning entries will receive recognitions and will be published by a broad range of news and magazine outlets so that we may all view the Cape Fear Wildlife Expo experience through the eyes of our youth.

Kids Gone Wild! is proudly sponsored by Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million Minds® Initiative

Time Warner Cable’s (TWC) Connect a Million Minds (CAMM) is a five-year, $100 million philanthropic initiative to address America’s declining proficiency in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), which puts our children at risk of not competing successfully in a global economy. Using its media assets, TWC creates awareness of the issue and inspires students to develop the STEM skills they need to become the problem solvers of tomorrow. TWC employees, over 47,000 strong, volunteer their time at community events like this one, and share their passion for engineering and technology with students at CAMM career days. TWC’s national CAMM partners are CSAS (Coalition for Science After School) and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). Local TWC markets are activating CAMM across the country with community-specific programs and partnerships.

Professional Educators, Conservation Partners, and Volunteers will make it happen.

The enthusiastic support of Time Warner Cable volunteers together with dozens of environmental agencies, conservation groups, and community-minded volunteers are responsible for delivering this event to youth in Wilmington.

The North Carolina State Chapter of the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) is responsible for coordinating this event. Requests for more information about Kids Gone Wild! can be directed by e-mail to ncqdma@yahoo.com or by phone to 919 552 9449.  The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) [on the web at www.qdma.com ]is a non-profit wildlife conservation organization dedicated to ensuring a high-quality and sustainable future for white-tailed deer and white-tailed deer hunting. Founded in 1988, the QDMA currently has more than 50,000 members in all 50 states and several foreign countries including many deer management professionals.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission serves as an integral partner, helping students to appreciate that conservation and management of our natural resources are essential to our lives. Environmental educators from the NC Coastal Federation, National Estuarine Research Reserve, North Carolina Falconer’s Guild, Jordan Lake Educational Forest, Cape Fear River Watch, NCPARC, and QDMA will deliver workshops.  Dozens of conservation groups will provide interactive activities, participate in the scavenger hunt, and conduct workshops promoting the outdoors and outdoor lore.

More about this year’s Cape Fear Wildlife Expo can be found online at www.capefearwildlifeexpo.com

“We’re very excited about combining these two successful clubs to continue serving the boating needs of the Lake Norman community and surrounding areas,” said Marc Graveline, President of Carefree Boat Club of Lake Norman. “We welcome our new members joining us from Queen City Boat Club and are looking forward to providing our existing members with an even better boating experience.”

Founded in March 2008, Queen City Boat Club brought the hassle-free boating concept to Lake Norman. Carefree Boat Club of Lake Norman launched in May 2010 with a three boat fleet, quickly expanding to five boats by the summer of 2011.

A September 27, 2011 Boating Industry feature article, “Boat Clubs Defy Recession”, described the growing trend of this alternative to boat ownership (Boat Clubs Defy the Recession).

“Combining the strengths of both clubs, Carefree Boat Club of Lake Norman is now not only the largest boat club on the lake, but also the longest established,” said Graveline.

Located at WaterStreet Seaport in Cornelius, Carefree Boat Club of Lake Norman enables members to enjoy the boating lifestyle with concierge service without the expense and work often associated with owning a boat.

Membership also includes use of boats at other Carefree Boat Club locations in Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida and Texas. For more information on memberships, please visit www.carefreeboats.com or call John Gillette at 704-497-0778.