Cathy Kinlaw and her brother Tommy Faircloth were two of the original White Lake Ski Heels who, in 2024 brought a young team of skiers called the Carolina Show Ski Team to the White Lake Water Festival. Up until then, there had been no ski show at the festival for 30 years.
WHITE LAKE ECOSYSTEM
Splash’s Fun Park experienced huge crowds at its freshman season in White Lake for the Water Festival. Businesses are booming and growing and an integral part of the growth of the community is the White Lake Friends.
The inaugural “Turtle Trot” was run, walked, biked and scootered this past May during the White Lake Water Festival. This was an idea brought forth from the White Lake Friends, Inc. which came up with the idea to make the festival an official three-day event.
The White Lake Water Festival was created to showcase White Lake and all that she has to offer. The festival grew out of a blueberry festival to one of southeatern North Carolina’s premiere summer festival.
a team of water skiers who performed at events on White Lake in North Carolina. They were known for their impressive stunts, including human pyramids, jumps, and barefoot skiing, and were a major draw for the White Lake Water Festival. The festival itself was partially inspired by the Ski Heels’ talents. " srcset="https://www.bladenjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/131548302_web1_WhatsApp-Image-2025-05-29-at-09.51.23_f9c6caba.jpg" sizes="(-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) 1280px, (min-resolution: 192dpi) 1280px, 640px" class="entry-thumb td-animation-stack-type0-3" style="width: 100%;">
Cathy Kinlaw was a member of the original Ski Heels. The White Lake Ski Heels were a team of water skiers who performed at events on White Lake in North Carolina. They were known for their impressive stunts, including human pyramids, jumps, and barefoot skiing, and were a major draw for the White Lake Water Festival. The festival itself was partially inspired by the Ski Heels’ talents.
WHITE LAKE – For the second year in a row, the White Lake Friends, Inc. (WLF) have planned and worked with the White Lake Water Festival committee for one of the most successful festivals in southeastern North Carolina.
Working with the town of White Lake, the White Lake Water Festival committee and other local organizations, the WLF have become an important part of bringing new things to White Lake. But who are they and how did they get started?
The White Lake Friends, Inc. is an action collaborative of local property owners, visitors, businesses, and entities that are committed to protecting the natural ecosystem of White Lake.
“We are conservationists and environmentalists who want to nurture the stunning wildlife, encourage the diverse flora, and respect the unique geological history of this extraordinary Carolina Bay,” Cathy Kinlaw said. “The initiative began with three friends sitting on a lakeside porch and talking about the unique ecosystem of White Lake.”
It is one of the 1200 – 1800 Carolina Bays in Bladen County, and is home to a plethora of wildlife and flora. It also has an interesting cultural and social history.
According to the group, “It has gradually suffered under the effects of a changing natural environment, as have other regions of the world.”
“We found ourselves discussing ways to communicate with other property owners about natural ways to protect and conserve the historical beauty of the Lake,” Kinlaw said. Initially, we created LakeLoveLeads.com, a social media opportunity to encourage property owners to be good stewards of White Lake. Our thought was to create responsibility for your own backyard that strip of waterfront that belongs to you. If everyone would care for their own parcel of land, it could directly affect the health of the Lake.”
In the fall of 2024, LakeLoveLeads assumed leadership of the annual Clean Sweep, an organized initiative to walk the entire waterfront of White Lake simply picking up trash. Soon, White Lake residents were becoming more interested in other ways to become involved in caring for the community.
“Our conversations became centered around incorporating as a North Carolina nonprofit” Kinlaw said. “We assembled a group of 10 people, paid the application fee, and submitted a proposal to the Secretary of State to ‘support efforts to restore, conserve, and protect the natural resources of White Lake and to enhance the community experience in the area.’”
The group put in their application Feb. 14, 2024, and received their nonprofit designation as the White Lake Friends, Inc. March 8, 2024.
The WLF have hosted exhibits on bats and turtles, organized the waterfront Clean Sweep, participated in the Christmas tree exhibit at the farmers market, hosted two general membership meetings, produced an educational brochure about mosquito control for the Town of White Lake, received a grant, and joined the Chamber of Commerce. But they are so much more. With the power of business leaders and the cooperation of the town, the White Lake Festival has become saturated with people and events in their annual May event.
“We are in conversations with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, the East Coast Greenway National Organization, the Cape Fear ARCH Conservation Collaboration, and the Lower Cape Fear Wildlife Federation,” Kinlaw said. “We are developing connections across the state that will support the next level of community involvement.”
The WLF have a master list of events, seminars and dreams, which includes creating safe boating information tools, developing summer camps for kids, promoting the multiuse path around the Lake, creating outdoor recreational opportunities, collecting historical data, hosting a lecture series, disseminating information about healthy actions to protect the natural ecosystem, and more.
Ultimately, the Friends would like to have a physical home that serves as a museum, welcome and information center, and community meeting space.
“We are actively engaged in fundraising and grant writing,” Kinlaw said. “We are also actively looking for an old home – perhaps a historic home where we could one day staff a museum that includes the history of White Lake and would contain a plethora of pictures, videos and relics from the past.”
During the White Lake Water Festival this past May, the WLF hosted their inaugural “Turtle Trot” which was a family fun-run designed to encourage awareness of the ‘native bats, fish, reptiles and other creepy-crawlies,’ at the Lake. The 2.89-mile walk/run/bike/scooter course went around White Lake.
“Next year we will have a special guest and mascot for the Turtle Trot,” Kinlaw said. “Last year we had a turtle rescued from the lake which we suspect had a portion of it’s shell ripped away by a boat propeller. The turtle is on its way to a miraculous recovery and will be from this point on our mascot for the event.”
The next general membership meeting is in July. Interested persons are encouraged to attend. The date and time will be announced on the White Lake Friends, Inc. website. Contributions to the White Lake Friends are tax-deductible. The organization can acknowledge gifts in honor of or in memory of persons, and will provide appropriate letters to the giver and the receiver.