LAKE CARMEL- Hundreds of men, women, and children of all ages frolicked in the cool waters of Lake Carmel as well as enjoyed each other’s company during Lake Carmel’s 34th Annual Summer Festival.
Saturday’s event involved a variety of swimming races for children aged 3 through 16.
Lake Carmel Park District Chairperson Walter Recher described the gathering as “our best yet. Our 34th annual was a complete success. We have already begun planning for next year’s festival,” he said.
The event was extra special for members of the Garbarino family as dad, Jim Garbarino, proudly watched his two daughters, Gwendolyn and Rubi on the lifeguard chairs.
Jim is the lifeguard supervisor on Lake Carmel overseeing some two dozen young lifeguards.
It was two years ago when Jadyn Kennedy and Bella Ianiri were spending a peaceful afternoon paddling their kayaks in Lake Carmel when tragedy nearly struck.
High winds suddenly swept across the lake, turning the glasslike surface into whitecaps within seconds, and both kayaks flipped at the same time. The teenagers had life jackets, but their cell phones sank beneath the lake’s surface.
Garbarino happened to be driving by at the time when no one else was in the water or on the beach.
“I slowed down because something didn’t seem right,” he recalled. “I called out to ask if they needed help, and they said they were struggling to swim back to shore.”
Garbarino said his first instinct was to “call one of my lifeguards but then the adrenalin kicked in and I took off my shirt, jumped into the water and swam out to meet them since both girls were tiring.”
When the hero lifeguard reached the teenagers, he told them to relax: “I grabbed onto the kayak and pulled them back to shore.”
Garbarino was thankful that he was at the right place at the right time.
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