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CLEARLAKE >> Amid all the fun and celebration at Saturday’s Power to the Youth festival in Austin Park came a poignant moment to reflect on the life of a little guy who made a big mark on Lake County’s scooter, skateboard and BMX community.
The little guy, Joseph Lacoy, 12, died Wednesday after being hit by a vehicle along Hwy. 29 near Lakeport.
The shock of his loss still reverberated Saturday in the close-knit skater-boarder community, including at the competition.
BMX rider Ricky Bush of Clearlake set up a table with a photo collage and a donation jar at the BMX-scooter-skateboard competition in the Clearlake Skatepark Saturday. Bush helped organize the competition as part of the youth power event.
“I wanted to do something positive for little Joseph,” Bush said during a break in the competition. “Today is dedicated to Joseph Lacoy.”
Friends of Joseph set up a Go Fund Me account on Facebook to garner money for funeral expenses and raised $5,000 in the first two days, Bush said.
“This shows how strong an impact this little boy had on his community,” Bush said. “He was very well known around Lake County,” especially in the BMX-boarder community.
There was a “big turnout” for this year’s skatepark event, Bush said. “There’s a lot of kids eager to compete.”
This was the fourth year at the skatepark event for Matthew Madrigal of Clearlake and his third year as a competitor.
“I like helping out the community and showing the little kids what it’s all about,” he said. “I always enjoy myself here. It’s a very big event for our little community.”
In addition to the skatepark competition, the seventh annual festival included food, live music, bouncy house water slides, a climbing wall, basketball tournament and horse rides.
“This is a big event before school starts,” said John Ely of Hidden Valley Lake who brought his three children — ages 8, 11 and 15 — to the festival. “They love the (mechanical) bull ride and the rock-climbing wall. We’re going to try the pony ride next.”
Nora Moore didn’t know about the festival until she drove by with her kids and saw the horse ride Saturday morning.
“It’s nice to have something on the weekend for kids to do,” she said, watching her son, Jaeden, 8, riding a horse.
Jason Walsh of Clearlake brought his kids to the festival for the skatepark competition but ended up at the inflatable rock climbing wall.
“The kids saw this so we came on over,” he said. It was their first time at the event. “It’s good, family fun for the kids.”
The primary food booth was provided by the Cactus Grill Mexican restaurant in Clearlake. Roberto Reyes of Clearlake did the cooking, offering up pork, beef, chicken and bacon soft tacos with sides of rice and beans.
Musical acts included Fetti Rich, The Lyricist and As All Else Fails.
Turnout for both the festival and skatepark competition were much higher than in 2016, possibly due to the temperature, about 10 degrees cooler than last year.
The festival is organized by the Lake County Community Pride Foundation, a youth advocacy and support organization.
