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BENSCREEK CANOE CLUB
NEWSLETTER, July, 2009
www.benscreekcanoeclub.com
Benscreek
Canoe Club
July 6, 2009
Summer Newsletter
BCC
Hotline (814)266-4276
Here’s hoping
everyone is having a great summer. The
one benefit of canoeing and kayaking is that despite chilly and sometimes
rainy weather, this activity is always available. The Stony was up several times in
June. The canoe camping trip on the
West Branch of the Susquehanna was lots of fun. (despite Greg Gdula getting all wet).
We had a full moon paddle on the Que
during the Conemaugh Valley Sojourn on June 6. Congratulations to Jill Latuch, Mike Burk, Clark Fisher and Brenda Mahoney for their organizational
efforts for the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy for the Sojourn. There were 98 paddlers through the
Packsaddle Gap on Friday, June 5 and 102 paddlers for the trip on Saturday
from the Conemaugh Lake Dam to Apollo.
Approximately 70 folks went down the Canyon (class III) on Sunday
that was assisted by Wilderness Voyageurs.
The final numbers are in
for the Stony Rendezvous. The club
profited approximately $1,200 from the event. In addition to the profits, we received a
$5000 grant from the Somerset Hotel/Tourism Grant Program. Approximately $2,000 of this will go
towards marketing the Rendezvous in 2010.
We have also promised Conemaugh Township that we will spend up to $500 towards
fixing/filling in with concrete the handicap accessible ramps at Greenhouse Park. These two ramps have been
washing out each spring during high river flow. The last section of concrete sits on
river cobble. This will be replaced
with new concrete to hopefully solve the problem on a long term basis. The BCC will complete this in conjunction
with the EADS Group and Kukarin Construction
later this summer. Will blast an
email with specific dates and times.
While we are on the
subject of concrete, the BCC sponsored ($100) the UPJ Concrete Canoe Team
through the Civil Engineering Dept. They
won their regional race, placing them in the National Competition the week
of June 8th in Alabama. They
placed 20th on a national scale, which is FANTASTIC. We hope to re-forge an opportunity with
this club that we can share canoe designs and paddling techniques for their
future endeavors.
The BCC will contribute
$200 to Scott Dessort and $200 to Conemaugh
Township Recreation through the tip jar from the Rendezvous. It was requested that these 2 groups
receive assistance for their fish stocking program that go toward the Stonycreek River over the past 5 years.
Scott has taken many thousands of his own dollars towards this great
program that continues to build the Stonycreek Corridor into one of the
most talked about ecological rebounded watersheds on the East Coast.
Now for upcoming events:
July 7 - Full Moon Paddle on the Que. Meet at the family beach area at 7 pm. The BCC
will supply chicken, burgers and dogs.
Bring a covered dish, lawn chair.
Big Ken will supply fire wood.
We will probably paddle briefly before sunset, then puts lights on
the canoes/kayaks and paddle during the full moon probably between 9:30 and 10 PM. Your boats must be
registered!!!
July 11 – Middle
Yough Paddle Trip. Meet at 10 AM (Saturday) at Ramcat
put-in at Confluence. BEGINNERS
– please call the hotline for any info that you may need. Boats should be registered. Bring a Lunch! Great Class II run for canoes OR
kayaks! Should be off river by 3:30 PM. This will
be the 1st of 3 Middle Yough Trips sponsored by the club.
July 17 – Community
Foundation for the Alleghenies is having a Birthday Party. Friday night at the Pasquerilla Conference Center at 5 PM. Tickets are $50. They can be bought online at
cfalleghenies.org or by calling 536-7741.
There will be 3 live bands, a pig roast, hot dogs, hamburgers and
beverages. The Community Foundation
has given endless amounts of time, money and resources to the BCC and this
is ONE WAY to help repay all that they have done for us. PLEASE consider purchasing a ticket or
making a donation to the Foundation.
July 18 – Whitewater Park beginner kayak instruction.
This will be the 1st of hopefully 2 instructional courses
to be held at Greenhouse Park. RSVP is a MUST. Call the hotline at 266-4276. Rocky Mountain Kayak will supply the gear. The BCC will supply the instructors. We will limit participation to the first
30 people!!!!! We will begin at 10 AM and go until approximately 1 PM. Bring a
lunch. Wing fest will be held that
evening at the park as well. We will
teach wet exits, ferrying, catching eddies and surfing. You will get wet. Bring nose/ear plugs if necessary,
swimsuit, dry clothes to change into.
July 30 – At Greenhouse Park. PBS will be doing a video
shoot on kayaking on the Stonycreek River and Whitewater Park. We will need
intermediate/experienced kayakers to be interviewed and videoed at the
Park. This probably will begin in
the early afternoon as well, so plan to modify your work schedule. This will be a GREAT WAY to show off our city and natural resources that
we are so proud of.
Beginners –
don’t forget about kayak roll session at Rocky Mountain Kayak in New
Stanton. They begin at 7 PM and are free to members. Also Jeff Prycl
meets every Sunday now through September at Ferncliff
Parking Lot at 11 AM for beginner whitewater instruction. He then does the Loop of the lower Yough at 3 PM. Beginner instruction will
be plenty. Again, this is free if
you are a member. Gear can be
rented from Jeff at $25/day for all that you need.
The next full moon paddle
will be August 6th. As
you may have read, the DEP finally permitted the new valve for the
Quemahoning Dam. The contract was
awarded last week by the CSA. It
will be in place sometime next April-May.
I am not sure how this will effect the Rendezvous dates for next
year at this time.
Finally, as reported in
the Tribune-Democrat, the engineer for the Cambria-Somerset Authority
(CSA), Tom Kakabar, will resign from his post in the next 30
days to pursue other interests. Tom was instrumental in forging a relationship with
the CSA and the BCC as well as providing us limited water releases for the
past 4 Rendezvous’. The BCC
wishes to thank Tom for all his efforts and best of luck in his
future endeavors.
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