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There will be a sunset cruise fundraiser for The Foundation for Casey’s Cure on West Point Lake on Oct. 20 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets cost a $50 donation.

The event will take place at Pyne Road Park at 4481 Roanoke Road in LaGrange. Guests will enjoy champagne and charcuterie provided by Mare Sol. They are asked to arrive at the Pyne Road “Floating Classroom” dock area by 5:30 p.m. to be outfitted with USCG-approved life vests so the boat can leave at 6 p.m. The money raised will support The Foundation for Casey’s Cure’s mission to spread understanding and awareness of muscular dystrophy.

“The reason I put it as where the floating classroom is is because when people drive into the park, there are signs that say “floating classroom” that direct them to where the dock is,” explained Chris Duane, executive director of Casey’s Cure. “It’ll be a nice night. It should be a nice fall cruise. Hopefully the leaves will be turning.”

Duane said the cruise was Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s idea, which Middle Chattahoochee Director Henry Jacobs presented to her in the spring.

According to Duane, Jacobs said his organization could offer their boat and licensed captain for the fundraiser.

Jacobs explained that Chattahoochee Riverkeeper is a nonprofit organization that holds programs and events to promote awareness of the Chattahoochee River.

“Our floating classroom program on West Point Lake mainly serves as a field trip program for schools,” he said.” But when we launched the program six years ago, we realized that there were no other publicly available outings on West Point Lake, so we began offering [them] for groups that want to have a sunset cruise or weekend outing.”

Jacobs said the boat being used for the event is 42 feet and is rated to carry about 30 passengers.

“One of our staff instructors will be on hand to give a little ten to 15 minute introduction to the lake and to Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and just be there to answer questions if folks have them and provide binoculars for some wildlife viewing,” he said.

Jacobs said that collaboration is an important part of being an organization in the LaGrange area.

“I think this is a just a really good kind of [thing] where Chattahoochee Riverkeeper can support Casey’s Cure,” he said. “It’s a nice way to help them, but also, at the same time, get folks out on the lake and just kind of remind folks that it’s their source of drinking water, so there are a lot of good reasons to be protecting it.”

To buy tickets for this event, go to https://caseys-cure.org and click the yellow “Register Now” button. Registering for this event means you have read and accepted the liability waiver.

The Foundation for Casey’s Cure, Inc. is a federally recognized 501(c)3 organization that advocates for patients with rare forms of muscular dystrophy and promotes research on rare subtypes of the disease in the U.S. It was founded by Duane, whose daughter, Casey Duffield, who has a rare form of muscular dystrophy.