Adobe Whitewater Club (AWC) Members,
It has been a very exciting year
for our organization’s contributions to the NM community! On behalf of
the board, I’d like to share a great recap of 2014 and invite you to a special
NM Paddler’s Holiday Party celebration Saturday, December 6 from 4:30-10:00pm
(details to be shared in subsequent communication). Special upcoming
events are mentioned at the bottom of this message.
“The purposes of the Club are
to promote river sports in New Mexico and elsewhere, to develop skills in river
running, to support the preservation, protection, and improvement of rivers and
river environments, to encourage the safe usage of our rivers by all and to
work for the continued availability of rivers for recreational uses.” (AWC Bylaws) All of this is possible through creating a
vibrant community that supports these foundational activities.
Each member has provided a valuable contribution:
·
If you volunteered to be a greeter,
·
If you helped with set up/take down of an event,
·
If you took on a role in the board or on a committee,
·
If you showed up and participated in any meetings or events,
·
If you wrote a letter to save the Gila or responded to a
newsletter call for action,
·
If you attended any governmental meetings regarding the
Gila,
·
If you helped teach others about any paddle related
activities,
·
If you met a new person at any events,
·
If you paid $15 membership
…your contribution made a
difference. Below is a recap of the difference we can (and DID) all make together
this year!
2014 ADOBE WHITEWATER CLUB RECAP
The Adobe Whitewater Club focused
on providing meaningful activities and events throughout the year, organized
and delivered by an enthusiastic group of volunteers. Below are some
highlights:
Monthly Programs:
There were numerous programs
throughout the year including:
·
River Permit Party lead by Scott Carpenter
·
1983 High Water Run in the Grand Canyon video from Jeffe Aronson
·
Kayaking the Middle Fork of the Kings River in California by Rick Deshler
·
Sea Kayaking, Kayak Sailing, and SUPing in Belize by Christine Mollo
·
Self-Support Kayak Trip Down the Grand Canyon by Marcel Bieg and Dave Childers
·
Whitewater Kayaking in North
Carolina by Christine
Mollo
·
Sea Kayaking Basics by Marcel Bieg
·
The Rio Grande Gorge Trail with Larry Hersman
·
The Alsek River by Rip Harwood, Sara Traub, and Norm Gaume
·
Down the Rio Grande: A Paddlers Perspective of the Rocks
and Rapids by Paul Bower
from NM Tech
·
Little Known Rivers of the
Southwest by Mark Fuge
·
Rio Chama and Gila – New Things to
Know by Steve
Harris
Our regular programs are the second Tuesday of each month. Check the AWC website or Facebook pages for details.
Special Programs:
In addition to our monthly
programs, there were a few notable special programs:
The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest
Ride Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon had a special speaker, Kevin
Fedarko, come to town to provide three days of dynamic stories and updates
throughout the year; our two day August event also included live music, a
picnic, and dory
Big Water, Little Boats: Author Tom Martin of River
Runners for Wilderness
Gila Rising: Author and Photographer Michael
Berman and Engineer Norm Gaume shared pictures & informed the community on
Gila River Diversion plans and how to get involved
DamNation: Movie Screening in Santa Fe sponsored by AWC and River Runs Through Us (to be held October 22)
Thanks to the enormous efforts of
Celia Southwick, Betsy Butler, and Mary McArthur for organizing and executing
our programs and to the many fantastic presenters!
Advocacy:
One area where many of our members
are involved, but the club has been less formally visible in recent years is in
supporting the preservation, protection, and improvement of rivers and river
environments. This year, the AWC has become much more visibly involved in
supporting a variety of advocacy initiatives.
Advocacy: led by
JoAnne Allen, focused on the Gila and is the club’s liason to Gila Conservation
Coalition in Save the Gila – thank you
JoAnne
Grand Canyon: via Kevin Fedarko’s presentations
both The Emerald Mile and The Emerald Mile (2 nights) at the Rio Grande Nature
Center – thank you Kevin
Gila River Diversion – a special thanks to Norm Gaume, Michael Berman, Steve Harris, and others
4 Corners Paddle Trail Project on
the Animas and San Juan Rivers in NW NM – this project
is in its second year of planning and AWC representatives continue to
contribute to this initiative
DamNation the Movie: Fund raiser for Save the Gila,
intended to promote education and a call to action; a special screening will be
held 7pm Wednesday, October 22 at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe
and is sponsored by the AWC – a special thanks to Peter Small
for organizing Adobe’s involvement in this event
2014 Clinics & Picnics:
Spring Kayak Clinic: beginning through
intermediate kayak instruction offered
Canoe Clinic: advanced canoe clinic with Kent
Ford
Fall Kayak Clinic: Junior and beginner kayak
instruction offered
A special thank you to Dallas Hill
for taking the lead in organizing, and to our many volunteer ACA
Certified instructors!
2014 Mother’s Day Rio Grande Whitewater Festival:
The Adobe Whitewater Club was
involved with helping to support the Mother’s Day festivities.
Thank you to Cliff Lockes who led the setup of the slalom
course and to Chad Morris who helped in a variety of ways!
Pool Sessions: Were offered throughout
the summer at the Kirkland Base pool
Thank you to Tim Scofield and Jon Coddou
for the significant time and effort in organizing this!
Membership: We have been updating our membership
records on a regular basis and recently conducted a full review of previous and
current members, reaching out to many who had not been as involved in recent
years.
A special thank you to mary McArthur for database
management of our membership!
Community Building & Donations
AWC Adaptive Paddling Education Donation - For the past 2 years, the AWC
had $1,000 set aside to donate to a paddling related community project. This
year, the old and new boards voted unanimously to donate that money to help
offset the cost of an ACA Adaptive Kayaking Instructor Endorsement course to be
conducted in NM. In total, 12 local ACA Kayak Instructors participated in
the Adaptive Paddling Workshop and are now using their skills to reach out to
the broader community and introduce paddling in a safe and fun way that best
meets the needs of the participants. Participants have been involved in teaching
kayaking at the Muscular Dystrophy Camp, the Wheelchair Sports Camp, working
with children/ adults who have Autism and a number of other instructional
paddling events.
AWC Representation at National Paddling Events – The AWC has been represented in
many national paddling organizations. Many in our club are active
members of the American Canoe Association (ACA). Additionally, members of our
board of directors hold various positions in the ACA including the Chair on the ACA Curriculum Committee for
various disciplines and the ACA Director for the State of NM. A number of
our members are ACA Certified Instructors
in various disciplines. Our members participated in the ACA Adaptive Paddling Summit in Michigan, where some of our members not
only participated but co-taught the Adaptive Paddling Workshop. Our club was also represented at the Lumpy Waters Symposium in Pacific City
Oregon, where some of our members were invited to teach.
Congratulations to Marcel Bieg! - former AWC President and on the current
AWC board of directors, who was recognized and awarded the ACA 2014 Excellence in
Paddle Sport Instruction (aka-Instructor of the Year)! We are privileged to
have Marcel in our NM community and actively in our club!
Communication
AWC Website is updated regularly:
http://www.adobewhitewater.org/
AWC Facebook is also updated
regularly: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adobe-Whitewater-Club-of-New-Mexico/109330819109887 (please
"like" us)
Monthly emails and other general
updates are sent out regularly to members
Thank you to Tom Fort and Jessica
Sunderland for leading our website and Facebook updates and to Celia Southwick
and Mary McArthur for their ongoing email updates. There is a team that has
been trained to help maintain our website – special thank you to everyone who
is helping out.
Some very cool things have been
happening with our members:
·
There are more individuals volunteering in their own
unique ways to make a difference, we’ve had more greeters, people leading
special projects, and people raising their hands with ideas and to help out
than at any other time in recent years
·
More of our members, who join every year but rarely
attend events, have been showing up
·
We have welcomed back a few members who did not realize
the club was still active
·
We have welcomed some new, very active members
·
We have had a number of other groups attend some of our
special presentations with a record of >150 participants at Kevin Fedarko’s
presentation on the Emerald Mile at the Rio Grande Nature Center
ANNOUNCING TWO VERY SPECIAL EVENTS
– save the dates! (details to be sent separately)
To accommodate the diverse make up
of our membership and promote interaction, fun, and sharing knowledge we will
have two special events this holiday season:
1.
November 11 Monthly meeting will be our AWC Thanksgiving
– this monthly meeting will be a time for us to celebrate together as a club;
the presentation will be on Sea Kayaking in Baja
2.
New Mexico Paddlers’ Holiday Event – Will be held on
Saturday December 6 from 4:30 to 10pm at Hotel Cascada. This special evening is
intended to build community, welcome paddlers (many of our members) from all
parts of New Mexico, and offers a dinner, program, and multiple entertainment
options. This will be our official holiday party. Details to come later this week, hold the
date.
We welcome you to the upcoming
events, to participate, lead, and/or have a great time with others who are
passionate about paddling and water. Without the efforts of individuals like
those mentioned above, we could not make the meaningful contributions that are
happening. If you like what you are
seeing in the club, please thank a volunteer today, your words of encouragement
are meaningful and important. If you
would like to be more active in any of the above or lead your own initiative,
please reach out to a board or committee member.
Thanks for a fabulous 2014; we
look forward to celebrating with you on December 6!
Paddle on,
Christine Mollo on behalf of your
Adobe Whitewater Club Board (Rick, Chad, Tom, Marcel, Therese, Peter, Jessica,
Scott)