Current Club News

Current news in the Carolina Canoe Club;

FUTURE EVENTS

Our Calendar is almost full up till WOR! One weekend in June has nothing planned as of yet!  Don’t be afraid to be the first to schedule an event or trip for that weekend or schedule something on a date that already has events.  There is nothing wrong with multiple events per day.  There are trips, clinics, and even some non CCC events posted on the calendar for all our members know what is going on.  Get out there and soak up some of the great knowledge from the clinics, or go on a posted trip and learn what it takes to be a Trip Coordinator so you can post your own trip one day.  Either way get out there and support your Club and enjoy what is shaping up to be a great year on the water.  Additionally if you know of a paddling or conservation event going on in our region that our members may be interested in attending then please let me know and I will get it added to the calendar as long as it falls into our category of acceptable events.  An example of a non acceptable event would be a brewery hosting a paddle event where they allow drinking during the paddle, I mention this as there is such an event in NC.

HELP WANTED

The budget was recently approved with a record number of votes so hats off to all the members who voted this year, including the ones who voted against the budget as that tells us you actually read it and had reservations about something your board put together.  Now that it is approved we have many things coming up in the future but we also could really use some volunteers.

• The Board is still looking for a Swag Coordinator and a WOR Clinic Coordinator to help us take care of our normal yearly operations, specifically during WOR.  If you are interested in either position then please contact one of your board members for more information.
• In the budget we allocated monies for logo sales but we could really use 1 or 2 volunteers to take the lead on that project.  We have some ideas already in the works but the Logo Sales position would be the one who determines which avenue would be best to follow.
• Kayak, Canoe, and Safety Instructors:  The club is always looking for the next generation of instructors.  Even if you are not mentally or physically ready, now is the time to step up and start learning.  Shadow a current instructor, ask the questions, and learn what it takes to be an instructor.  I know I would personally mentor anyone who was interested in becoming a Safety and Rescue instructor, even if it was a 2 year mentorship till you were ready to attend an instructor candidate course and I am sure most of our instructors across the club would do the same.  If you think you might be interested in becoming an instructor then reach out and start learning now.  Just a reminder that the club does offer incentives to becoming an instructor to include helping to pay for your certification.
• Trip Coordinators:  We are always looking for more trip coordinators to help fill the calendar with events for our members and to be ready to help us have a fun and safe time during WOR.  If you know a river well enough to coordinate a trip down it safely then step up and schedule one now.  If you know the river but don’t feel comfortable being the coordinator then go out on another trip and pick the mind of that coordinator, learn what to do and what not to do.  Most trip coordinators will give you more information than you probably want to help you out.  Get out there and get that knowledge.
• The Paddler is also looking for anyone interested in going out there and finding stories to write and post about our community, rivers conservation, or whatever that would interest our members.
• The Club will soon be taking control of a very popular item in the state and selling it.  If you are someone who thinks they can sell an already popular item and help us deliver it to the customers then let us know as we will readily accept help with this huge endeavor.  More will be published about this great opportunity for the club after we finalize the plan.
• Commitee members:  This is not a position that is needed but each chairperson would gladly accept the help.  If you are interested in Education, Conservation, Safety, or even the Cruise position reach out to that chair and ask if you can help.  All positions are allowed to have a committee to help them out with their duties and I am sure most would gladly take any help you can provide.   This would include Week of Rivers.  If you are interested in volunteering and helping out during WOR I am sure the great Tom Womble will gladly take the help.

UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES

In the Help Wanted post I mentioned a great opportunity that the Carolina Canoe Club has been presented with that we could use some help with.  It involves dealing with Sales and Deliveries.  I will not go into details just yet as to what the opportunity is as it is still in the planning phase and I don’t want to spoil the great news just yet.  What I will say is this opportunity will bring a sizable amount of non budgeted money to the club.  The committee that is currently working on this project has some ideas as to how to use that money but they are open to ideas from our members.  Let’s just say if the club were to get $5,000 donated to them, how would you like to see it used?  So this doesn’t become a budget forum, I will state it is not going to the Paddler Cards or former poker card program.  If you have ideas send them to myself or Donnie Fleming and we will add them to our list to consider.

LOGO SALES

Also mentioned in the Help Wanted was the need for a couple volunteers to run our Logo Sales department.  Many club members have expressed interest in buying clothing and gear with the CCC Logo on it and we have the money allocated to start the program back up in full swing, we just need the volunteers and some ideas as to what the members want.  So send us your ideas of what you would like to see so when we get some volunteers they will already have a list of what the club really would like to see.  From the budget forum we have already heard that club members would like to see apparel that is meant to be worn on the river such as moisture wicking and rash guard type shirts.  Let us hear what else you would like to see and what designs on the apparel.  We have seen many designs in the past and the CCC Logo will be a must on each article of clothing but are there other designs, like the famous River of Dreams logo?  Or maybe someone would like to help design another picture for the back of shirts?  I know we have some very creative members out there, let us see what you have and maybe we get the Logo Sales department running again we can have a T-shirt design contest!

In closing if there is anything you would like to see a story or article on in the future let me know and I will see if I can make it happen.  When I brought The Paddler back, my hopes were to publish stories and information that was not readily available on social media or the internet and personal stories from all of you is one of the best ways to do that.  Let the members hear your story.  Submit your ideas and lets keep The Paddler going.

Thank you

William Holman

editor@carolinacanoeclub.org