By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
Rim Special Athletes (RSA) is a program designed to give children and adults who have special needs an opportunity to engage in individual sporting activities. It is now in full swing with its summer program at Lake Arrowhead. RSA uses the Arrowhead Lake Association’s Peninsula Park beach for its summer program.
Fun is the focus as the “kids of RSA” range in age from 10 to adults. Each family brings their own lunches, as many of them have specialized diets.
RSA has floating lily pads to lay or sun on and, for those more independent members, aqua cycles to pedal around the bay, plus kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and pedal boats to use on the lake. The beach at Peninsula Park also gives them and their families an opportunity to swim. RSA, of course, supplies everyone with a life vest as safety is their number one concern while they have fun.
However, the water toys that seem to be most popular on these recent hot days are the water squirters, as the kids, parents and everyone else in the area enjoy squirting each other, in fun of course. They played in the water, on the beach, rode the toys and had lunch together on the beach.
Last week, the San Bernardino County fireboat came to visit the RSA members and took them for a ride. The firefighting boat took them out on a tour of the lake, then went to a spot in the center of the lake where each one got an opportunity to shoot the water monitor. The monitor is basically a firehose pulling water from the lake with a nozzle attached to the boat to shoot the water long distances.
The fireboat is a significant firefighting tool that County Fire has for use in the Lake Arrowhead area; generally the firefighters do not get many opportunities to use the water monitor just for fun. It is designed to fight boat, dock and lakefront house fires, so the water stream can be quite strong and goes quite far. The RSA kids enjoyed shooting it short and long distances, over and over. The fire officials seemed to enjoy watching the kids and adults have fun with the monitor and riding on the fire boat.
“It is wonderful that RSA has a good relationship with the County Fire Department and that they have provided their boat on the lake every year for these kids to ride on and enjoy,” said RSA Program Director Jack Cooperman. “Riding the fireboat is a very special experience.”
Michelle posted on Facebook after the fire boat ride last week, “One of the best programs for the disabled in the Inland Empire. Jack has dedicated his life to providing such happiness to so many. He has educated himself on the many disabilities, giving him knowledge and patience to provide the extra help we need to achieve, a true gem of a man. I had another beautiful day on the lake.”
Beginning this month, one day a week, the adult students from Mountain of Promise have been sending several of their students to the RSA lake program at Lake Arrowhead. As long as the hot weather holds, they will continue to attend, usually through September and sometimes into October. This provides an opportunity for Mountain of Promise to offer another activity outlet for their students during the hot weather. Each different opportunity gives the RSA kids a chance to learn new skills and to practice them as often as possible.
Since RSA is a year-round program, it also offers adapted and veteran programs and snow sports at Snow Valley, and snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing at Rim Nordic, as well as fishing and year-round virtual yoga classes which extends the program to others off the mountain, as well. It is planning on adding in-person yoga soon in the local area.
“Jack Cooperman offers a lot of different water-fun activities during the summer, along with many other seasonal fun activities. Today a few of my friends from the Inland Lighthouse for the Blind, San Bernardino and I were fortunate enough to spend a day of kayaking on Lake Arrowhead thanks to Jack and the RSA organization’s volunteers,” said Elaine. “This was an amazing opportunity.”
Each year RSA has a float for their participants to ride in during the Jamboree Days parade in Crestline, and they also enjoy being in the Blue Jay Christmas parade. Each activity offers a chance for fun and socialization between the participants.
The Rim Special Athletes Foundation serves individuals of all ages with visual and hearing impairments, amputations, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Down Syndrome and autism, as well as many other cognitive and physical disabilities. Most of these programs are at no charge through the RSA Foundation.
For more information on the Rim Special Athletes Foundation, or to get involved in their activities, see their website: https://rimspecialathletes.org. Contact them directly by email at RimSpecialAthletes@gmail.com.
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