On the Friday night of Labor Day weekend, September 4, Lake Waccamaw kicked off its 15th annual Take the Lake with a start line at "Dale's or the Dam," the location announced on Facebook the morning of, the way it has been for over a decade. By Monday, racers had covered a 5K, a 16-mile run or ruck, a 14-mile paddle, a 4-mile swim, and a 16-mile bike leg that runs from Elizabeth Brinkley Park out to the dam and back. Nobody published a headcount. No press release listed how many people showed up, how many out-of-town cars filled the lot, or what the weekend meant for local businesses.
The lack of a headcount contrasts with the coverage of other local events.
Five months earlier, in April, the town hosted the fourth annual NC Alligator Festival at the same park, and the coverage looked completely different. Local news reported over 60 vendors, a 5K and fun run starting at 8 a.m., a 10 a.m. festival kickoff, and language about the event drawing thousands of visitors and boosting the local economy through tourism. The two events offer different snapshots of Lake Waccamaw's calendar: Take the Lake's materials highlight its founders, volunteers, and community partners, while coverage of the Alligator Festival includes vendor and visitor figures.
Take the Lake: An Event Built Around Its Founders
Take the Lake didn't start as a tourism play. It began in 2009, took a pause during COVID, and returned with a simple mission: celebrate personal health and honor the endurance traditions of two men, Lee J. Greer and Grant Egley. The founding group who built the race also included Bob Eplee, Frank Gault, Mark Gilchrist, J.B. Lee, Johnny McNeill, and Julie Stocks, names that show up on the event page not as sponsors but as the people who decided this community needed something of its own.
The organizers describe it plainly: the race is "100% run by people who love this community," with sponsors, civic groups, and volunteer families who return year after year. The 2026 edition thanked the Town of Lake Waccamaw, Lake Waccamaw State Park, and the local fire, police, and rescue teams as community partners, the same institutions that show up for every other town function, not a hired events company brought in to manage crowd flow.
The table below summarizes some of the differences in how the two events are documented.
| Take the Lake | NC Alligator Festival | |
|---|---|---|
| Month | September | April |
| Founded | 2009 | 2023 (4th annual in 2026) |
| What gets reported | Founder names, volunteer thanks | Vendor count, visitor totals |
| Coverage focus | Community participation and event history | Tourism and local impact |
| Start point | Dale's or the Dam | Elizabeth Brinkley Park, 10 a.m. |
Take the Lake and the Alligator Festival offer different ways to join in the town's calendar.
A Regional October Gathering
The next fixture on the fall calendar isn't in Lake Waccamaw at all. On October 16 and 17, the Waccamaw Siouan Powwow returns to the Waccamaw Siouan Tribal Ground on Jacobs Loop Road in Bolton, a short drive from the lake and listed on the state's own events calendar. It's not a Lake Waccamaw event by address, but it is a nearby gathering on the region's fall calendar.
Restaurant Histories and Online Presences
The town's restaurants have different histories and online presences too. Dale's Seafood has been serving the lakeside crowd since May 22, 1995, out of its spot on Lakeshore Drive. Its online listing is still unclaimed, and it has no slick ordering system. Locals talk about it the way you'd talk about a relative's kitchen: reliably good, occasionally slow, worth the wait.
Down the road on Sam Potts Highway sits El Juan Mariscos, a newer addition to the town's short restaurant row. It runs online ordering and has a 97 health score on its public listing. One diner's early review called it "brand-new" and said the staff were still working out a few kinks.
The restaurants have different histories and different ways of reaching customers.
Other Local Events and Traditions
Each March, the Cape Fear Farm Heritage Association hosts Southern Farm Days in Lake Waccamaw, three days of tractor pulls, antique equipment, and hands-on farm history, with all proceeds going to the Lake Waccamaw Girls & Boys Home.
On July 4, as part of the nation's 250th anniversary, Lake Waccamaw held a golf cart parade and opened a time capsule that had been sealed for 50 years, while the fire department ran its annual boot drive.
The Alligator Festival, Take the Lake, Southern Farm Days, and the July 4 celebration each appear on Lake Waccamaw's calendar, with different activities and traditions. Take the Lake honors Lee J. Greer and Grant Egley and involves volunteers and neighbors.
That's one part of Lake Waccamaw worth paying attention to this season, alongside the town's other gatherings.
If you're weighing a move to the lake, or already live here and are curious what your home might be worth in a town that runs on this kind of local commitment, talk to a local agent today at Tatum Real Estate.
