Families get together for boat bash

Event organized for people with disabilities

A fleet of yachts will roll into the waters off Boca Raton’s Spanish River Park this weekend as the Boating & Beach Bash for People with Disabilities comes back for its ninth year.

Saturday’s event, which has drawn thousands of attendees in past years, is a day of free boat rides, live music and hands-on games and activities as part of the all-inclusive event.

The festivities go from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Spanish River Park, 3001 N. State Road A1A.

Melody Steele-Martin and her family moved to Boca in 2010 and have gone to the boating bash every year since 2013. Her daughter, Katelyn, has cerebral palsy and she said the people at the event have become like family to them.

“You’re there, you’re free and everybody is loved for who they are,” Steele-Martin said. “You’re in a space where you can be yourself. You’re not thinking ‘Well is someone looking at my child?’ ”

Since its inception in 2009, the event has swelled from a beachside gathering of 350 locals to an iconic community-driven event at Spanish River Park, according to the event’s website.

While the boating bash was originally city-sponsored, organizer Jay Van Vechten said he took over in 2012. Van Vechten was part of the original city board that began the event.

“We just knew we had something here,” Van Vechten said. “I called my wife and I said let’s start reaching out to our friends.”

The popularity of the event has only grown, he said.

The boating bash recently added health and wellness information tents sponsored by area hospitals and are offering free non-invasive testing.

This year, Van Vechten said the event got a grant to buy mats to make the beach wheelchair-accessible. An accessible mini-train and a children’s play area also are being added to the agenda. Everything at the event is free, including parking, admission and lunch.

Families who have people with disabilities in their household often find it difficult to get them involved in social events, especially as they get older, Steele-Martin said.

“For these young adults, mom and dad are their entertainment,” she said. “You don’t want them to just stay home.”

The bash is fueled solely by a base of nearly 400 volunteers that do everything from coordinating corporate sponsors to physically helping visitors onto the boats. Van Vechten said some even come to help out from as far away as Los Angeles and New York City.

“The overwhelming side of this are the big hearts and the people behind the scenes,” Van Vechten said. “There’s a force behind this thing that’s really moving it forward.”

Steele-Martin’s 23-year-old daughter, Katelyn, will help out Saturday.

Now under the moniker DJ Kool Katelyn, she’ll be in charge of playing music for her tent with Royal DJs Inc., a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities become musicians.

“[We] get to have fun and we get to bring smiles and joy to people,” the DJ said. “Our motto is ‘Spread happiness one tune at a time.’ ”

MIKE STOCKER/STAFF FILE PHOTO Participants enjoy a previous Boca Raton Boating & Beach Bash. This is its ninth year.