Officers-Members-at-Large

I have been paddling Texas Rivers since 1968 when I first took Red Cross Basic Canoeing lessons as a very excited 11 year-old Girl Scout on Lake Raven at Huntsville State Park, back in the dark ages of only fiberglass and aluminum canoes and Type 2 horse collar lifejackets with kapok floatation. Our GS troop paddled every month of the next year, gradually building up to harder and faster rivers. Our troop #471had so much fun that the entire Girl Scout neighborhood wanted to go paddling with us. Thus the Spring Woods Girl Scout Canoeing Interest Group was formed in 1970. Any Girl Scout in the Spring Woods Neighborhood and their entire family, parents, brothers, and sisters could go paddling with us. We had patrols and rented U-Haul trailers to haul our camping gear and we paddled once a month all year long. At first we rented and repaired the Girl Scout aluminum canoe trailers monthly, but that got old fast. Soon we were a large enough group to fund raise (by selling lightbulbs and fertilizer) and we built 2 trailers and our GS leaders became Blue Hole Canoe Dealers so we could buy canoes at wholesale prices for the Canoe Group. We were the first canoe group in Texas to have the revolutionary Blue Hole OCA canoes and back then people laughed at us when we also bought the new Sunburst solo canoes, saying no one would ever want to paddle a canoe solo as it was way too much work. Little did they know!

I immediately fell in love with flowing waters and became a Red Cross Canoeing and Kayaking Instructor as soon as I was old enough in 1975. I also became a Water Safety Instructor, Lifeguarding Instructor, and First Aid Instructor. Our GS leaders took us to North Carolina in the summer of 1976 and we camped out and paddled for 2 weeks using guide books daily for river info. Everybody swam at least once and some people swam multiple times per day, but we all knew we had found whitewater mecca. We stumbled across the NOC while paddling the Nantahala River during that trip. We decided to return the following year and take a canoeing clinic to improve our paddling skills. We took an NOC clinic every summer and sometimes during spring break as well for many years before I ever heard of the CCC.

I finally met Vann and Laura Evans in the early 80’s during a North Georgia Week of Rivers NOC Clinic when Laura was first learning to paddle. Vann was already an accomplished C-1 paddler. Dave Moccia and Jimmy Holcombe were our NOC instructors. During this clinic Laura told Pat Isley (my canoeing partner) and me about the CCC Week of Rivers and encouraged us to join the CCC and attend the WOR. We were intrigued, and we immediately joined the CCC that March and we came to our first Week of Rivers that summer. I have not missed one WOR since then and I have learned so much, greatly improved my paddling skills and river knowledge, and made so many good friends while paddling during WOR. So many friendly club members helped us when we first arrived at WOR, and they either took us down the various rivers themselves or else made sure someone else could guide us safely down the various rivers we now paddle with great familiarity. The highlight of that first WOR for Pat and me was getting to paddle Section 3 of the Chattooga. I still remember how beautiful and pristine it was. I have gained so much from the CCC over the years and I try to giveback to the club what I can. I like to pass it on and help others experience the beauty of and joy I feel when paddling on moving water. I lead Novice and Intermediate trips during WOR and provide some paddling tips and instruction as requested during those trips. But, living in Texas, it is hard to get together with other club members except during the summer, so I cannot physically serve the club by offering instructional courses or other physical or on the river help. However, I can give back to the club by fulfilling the role of the CCC Board Member at Large. That’s why I am running for the At Large Board Member for the CCC, as my understanding that out of state residency is preferred for this position.

I am a founding member and the President of the Spring Woods Girl Scout Canoe Group, which has since morphed into the Spring Woods Canoe Group, a nonprofit volunteer group of former Red Cross and now American Canoe Association Instructors. The SWCG is an ACA Paddle America Club that provides low cost paddling instruction in canoeing, kayaking, and swift water rescue skills to youth groups such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and youth clubs and other community members. Most of the SWCG are former or current Boy Scout and Girl Scout Leaders or Sierra Club Members, and we focus on teaching people to have fun safely on and in the water. We train a lot of Scout crews headed to the Boundary Waters to paddle on their high adventure trips. I am proud to say that the SWCG has addicted many people to whitewater paddling.

I am an ACA River Canoeing Instructor Trainer, Whitewater Canoeing Instructor, Essentials of Touring Canoeing Instructor, Essentials of River Kayaking Instructor, and an Essentials of Kayak Touring Instructor. I serve on the ACA River Kayaking Committee and I am the Vice Chair of the ACA River Canoeing Committee. I serve as a Merit Badge Counselor for the Canoeing, Kayaking, and Whitewater Merit Badges and First Aid and Lifeguarding Merit Badges for the Scouts BSA program. I am a River Section Leader for the yearly San Marcos River and Medina River cleanups and I participate in other River cleanups as well, including the Tuckaseegee River. I have attended every one of the 20 annual Medina River cleanups as a River Section Leader.

I advocate for the conservation and the protection of both land and water and I am a member of many river and environmental protection groups. I serve on the Texas Rivers Protection Association Board. I believe that people will value and protect only what they are familiar with, and that to save and preserve our rivers and our wilderness for future generations, we must introduce the current generation to the special places that Rivers can take us.

Please contact us at member.at.large@carolinacanoeclub.org