Official grand opening of Splash’s Fun Park

WHITE LAKE – Although Splash’s Fun Park had experienced a soft opening in early July, a ribbon cutting with the Elizabethtown – White Lake Chamber of Commerce made it official July 30 at Goldston’s at White Lake.

The park has been in the planning stages for a few years and with the fruition of the park meant as an outreach to kids and families, the organizers also managed to do a special fundraiser for The Mercy House Pregnancy Resource Center, where entrants who brought diapers and wipes to donate were granted free access to the park.

The mission of The Mercy House Pregnancy Resource Center’s mission is to affirm the sanctity of human life through sharing the redemptive love of Jesus Christ and His plan for human sexuality, marriage and the family. We do this by promoting sexual integrity and empowering individuals to make life affirming choices, offering counsel to abortion minded individuals and families, providing abstinence and marriage education in our community, and providing post abortion counsel and support.

Megan Knight was on hand and addressed the crowd with gratitude for the help from so many people that attended the grand opening of the water park.

“We are so thankful to those who have come along side us and help us to minister to women in Bladen County,” Knight said. “Thank you so much to Grand Regal and Splash’s Fun Park for this amazing opportunity. These diapers and wipes will help moms here within our community and we long to make every child welcome, valued and loved.”

“That’s my priority,” Jenna Hilton, Splash’s Fun Pad co-founder said. “To help The Mercy House is my heart. We are very thankful to share this with the community and are really excited when locals come here. It was a project that my husband, Dean wanted to do and I told him that he wouldn’t have enough time. Today it’s official and once again, he’s proved us wrong. He doesn’t surprise me, though – we knew it was going to happen. God’s really blessed Dean with the talent to do what he does and Jake too – who is the face of this place.”

Jake Womble’s vision for growth took Goldston’s to another plateau last month and for a young entrepreneur it has been an adrenaline-filled ride. His family were all about making the resort successful and he learned at an early age, it took hard work and dedication to make it what it is today.

“My whole life I grew up here on the property,” Womble said. “My parents have operated the property for 50 years with my grandaddy Harry Womble. I grew up in the house right beside the putt-putt. Granddaddy and my uncle really made the place what it is and my parents, John and Jill continued to run the family business.”

In 2021 – just a year after COVID took out many hotels, restaurants and businesses, Womble was about to embark on the next chapter of not only his life – but the life of his family’s legacy.

“Around 2021 I sat down with my parents and worked out a deal with them so that they could retire,” Womble said. “One of my good friends Dean Hilton and his wife Jenna came in and partnered with me to do a lot of these renovations and take the property to the next level.”

Dean and Jenna Hilton have come alongside Jake Womble and Elizabeth Cashwell in the creation and hard work it took to bring the dream to reality. Hilton Companies is owned and operated by Dean Hilton and was established in 2019. According to the Hilton Companies website, “It all began with Dean’s passion for creating new opportunities and watching them succeed. Hilton Companies is dedicated to creating opportunities for others to thrive. Dean’s vision has always been rooted in providing versatile jobs across diverse fields, enabling individuals to reach their goals. The businesses under Hilton Companies are seamlessly integrated and aligned with the overarching vision of fostering growth and success for all.”

Hilton Companies purchased The Regal Resort and with the new branding and name The Grand Regal, the couple came alongside the Womble family.

“Jake has been a friend of the family for years,” Hilton said. “So, this just made sense. I kind of saw a vision to bring life back to White Lake. It took a little while for everyone to buy into what we were doing. Goldston’s Beach was over 100 years old, dated and needed a fresh look. Luckily, we had Jake Womble that was willing to dedicate his time, effort and family legacy to it – and he’s a great business partner. He is a phenomenal success story.”

Hilton shared that both he and Womble have a passion for Bladen County and the progress that is done in the county.

“We want to see a better environment for kids and opportunities for people to come back and live and work and buy into the whole rural community feel,” he said. “When I looked at this project (Splash’s Fun Park), Jenna said, ‘Dean, you don’t have time to do this.’ I thought to myself, this is a 100 year-year-old property with a family that’s been running it forever. This was an opportunity to partner with the kid that wants a chance to do better and to grow his business. So I looked at it from a standpoint of how I could make an impact for not only the community, but for Jake as well. The Lord has blessed me and given me the ability to do what I’ve done and I invest in people I see talent in. That’s kind of how it all started.”

At 45 Hilton brought the vision. At 35 Womble brings the worth ethic and the drive to succeed. Both men are workaholics and visionaries rather than just dreamers. Dreamers dream things, but visionaries make the dreams come to fruition.

“This (Splash’s Fun Park) was a big deal,” Hilton said. “Two years ago, we didn’t know if we were going to get here with the splash park and where things were going to go, but it’s a great opportunity. To me this is less about me and more about Jake and his success story and what he brings to White Lake. Now, as a business owner, it’s nice to finally see the project coming to a close, but I’m sure with next summer, we’ll have something else that we add as well to continue to grow the resort.”

The project was designed for families and children – both tourists and locals alike. It’s people in Bladen County growing things that make a difference and always with a purpose.

“To see the impact for the children and to see families happy and spending time together and off their cell phones, disconnected from the social media world is what’s really important to me,” Hilton said. “And we want to as well make an impact for The Mercy House as those are the things that we can do to give back to the community.”

Hilton and Womble, both men of faith and prayer comment that they don’t do anything without praying about it first, so the idea that perhaps this newest project was divinely inspired is not so far-fetched.

Divine intervention and a strong will to work. That makes for a great combination that many in the community have benefited from.

“Probably 95% of who I am is Goldston’s and White Lake so it’s a cool thing,” he said. “I learned from my parents and granddaddy that you’ve got to show up every day and you’ve got to commit to be here. I take pride in it. Everywhere I’m walking I’m looking to improve the place, picking up trash or trying to make things better. Whatever it takes. My family instilled that in me and since 5 years old, that’s just the work ethic you have to have around here or you’re just not going to make it.”

Jake Womble and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Cashwell have worked tirelessly ever since this project was proposed.

“Day to day, operating the whole property here including the Splash’s Fun Park with the jumping pillow and the splash pad all being combined, we open it daily for our vacationers along with our local people,” Womble said. “Obviously there has been a lot of hard work and planning that has gone into this project. Through it all we’ve had boots on the ground and it finally all came together. Having the official grand opening and making it available to the people in the area and seeing the kids from 2 years old all the way to 13 years old having fun is awesome. Some of the parents are joking that this wears the kids out so much that they get a good nap out of them.”

Since 2021 there have been a lot of renovations and the changes have made it a popular destination for people not only in North Carolina but across the nation. It’s not your grandfather’s resort, that is one certainty. The growth is welcomed and enjoyed and this business is only just begun to sprout wings.

“This splash park is something on the radar that we’ve always wanted to do,” Womble said. “Getting away from the amusement rides a few years ago, we wanted to have something for those young kids to have and focus on.”

Little do they know, but this water park, huge to a child will be the focus of dreams for years to come and the anticipation of coming back to create new memories each year. With the history and legacy of Goldston’s Beach, the stories 50 years from now will begin with, “I can remember going down that slide when I was a kid…” And then bringing children and grandchildren that will continue the legend of “Splash.”

Cashwell, who grew up and graduated from Clinton High School smiles from ear to ear as she watches the families and the kids making their memories.

“Personally, I went to school for education, so I have kids in my heart all the time,” she said. “Being able to help those like The Mercy House and to make sure that they have those essentials that they need and that they are well taken care of, it’s really important to all of us.”

The faith-based strength of the Hiltons, Womble and Cashwell play a big part in their business. For Cashwell, she comes to the table bringing not only maturity and strength, but a work ethic that rivals that of Womble.

“At the forefront of all of this, we can’t lose our purpose,” she said. “We are all called to go out and be disciples and that’s really what we’re doing here every day as we have the opportunity to impact someone’s life, show them Jesus and show a bright light that they may not always see. At the end of the day, really… that’s all that matters.”

The team and the workers at The Grand Regal help people get back to the basics of faith, family and harvesting memories that will be in their hearts for generations to come. There IS no greater love than giving themselves for others.

More pictures from the ribbon cutting ceremony and official grand opening can be seen on page 11 here in the Bladen Journal.