History Of Paddlings

Founder's Day, Great Race on tap Saturday, Sunday

Auburn’s Great Race enters its 34th year Sunday at Emerson Park, on Owasco Lake. The team triathlon features bicycling, running and paddling and is open to participants of all ages and abilities. Races begin at 9:30 a.m.

It’s also known as the Captain Myles Keogh Paddle, Wheel, and Run. The feature event, the traditional canoe race is a relay of four-person teams. It begins with a 10k run on county roads and the streets of Auburn. After finishing, runners hand off to their cycling teammate who then completes a course of about 19 miles on country (all paved) roads. Leave it to the Auburn Business Improvement District to find a safe, legal and family friendly way to mix beer and cars.

On Saturday, Downtown Auburn will celebrate its third annual Founder’s Day. While it lacks the star power of former Founder’s Day celebrations — former Alaska governor/vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in 2009 and actor Sigourney Weaver in 2010 — this year’s party looks to be a special day.

“This year the theme is History on Wheels,” said Connie Reilley, executive director of the Business Improvement District.

The Finger Lakes Division of the Antique Automobile Club of America will hold its 30th annual car show downtown for this year’s celebration, Reilley said.

The cars will be parked on Genesee Street in downtown Auburn. Other activities will take place in front of the County Office Building. There will be activities for children, including an appearance by Captain Jack the Pirate.

Two dozen arts and crafts vendors are expected.

And, of course, there will be plenty of food.

There will be a free child identification program in the air-conditioned Genesee Mall.

Musical entertainment includes performances by the St. Alphonsus Choir with the national anthem to start the festivities; Lou Kaplan and Last Train out from noon to 1:30 p.m.; Mark Doyle and the Maniacs from 2 to 4 p.m.; and MC and DJ Jane Stebbins of Goodtime Charlie’s Mobile Entertainment. Local radio stations will be on hand to fill in any blank spaces.

Reilley was already working with the automobile club for a smaller car show when she decided to not to make Harriet Tubman the theme this year as was originally planned.

“We didn’t have the budget to honor her the way she should be honored,” Reilley said.

And, she pointed out 2013 is the 100th anniversary of Harriet Tubman’s death. “There will be a lot of celebrations of her life up and down the East Coast.

Area Waters Featured in Statewide Paddling Book : The Voice

8-12-11  

Area Waters Featured in Statewide Paddling Book

Let the names of Florida’s rivers and coastal waters roll off your tongue: Ocklawaha, Chassahowitzka, Suwannee, Waccasassa, Aucilla, Wacissa, Sopchoppy, Withlachoochee, Loxahatchee, Homosassa, Apalachicola, Pithlachascotee, Econfina, Kissimmee… For those who have paddled these waters in a canoe or kayak, the Native American place names evoke winding streams and shaded hammocks, shimmering coastal waters and wild tree islands. Florida is made for paddling.             Doug Alderson’s Wild Florida Waters places Florida’s unsurpassed beauty and abundant wildlife in the forefront, from the mangrove labyrinth of the Ten Thousand Islands to the springfed Ichetucknee River. It also includes an exciting dose of paddling adventures, whether it’s tipping over in the Suwannee River’s Big Shoals rapids, surfing wind-generated waves while paddling the remote Apalachee Bay, or meeting up with a different form of “wild life” on the St. Marks River. Through all of the adrenalin, a strong conservation message permeates the volume, and useful how-to information is included at the end of each chapter.

“It’s meant to be more than a paddling guide,” said Alderson. “I wanted to evoke a sense of place in the waterways that I feature, and many of the tales have a humorous vein.” Alderson has authored two other books that focus on paddling in Florida, including New Dawn for the Kissimmee River: Orlando to Okeechobee by Kayak, winner of the 2010 Excellence in Craft Award by the Florida Outdoor Writers Association. His first book, Waters Less Traveled, focused on the environment, history and paddling along the remote Big Bend Florida Coast. The book was runner up for best travel book of 2006 by the North American Travel Journalists Association.

Several of Florida’s leading paddlers have read and endorsed Wild Florida Waters, including Gainesville resident Bill Richards, executive director of Paddle Florida. “It is past time somebody wrote a book of this caliber,” he said. “The book is a treasure trove of information for nature enthusiasts.”             Warren Richey, a journalist with the Christian Science Monitor and author of Without a Paddle: Racing Twelve Hundred Miles Around Florida by Sea Kayak, added, “The book is a celebration of a part of Florida most visitors—and many residents—never see, a celebration of what old-timers call the real Florida.

Sea Kayak Paddling Through History, Vancouver & Victoria

Exploring East End Waters, A Natural History and Paddling Guide

Stand Up Paddling, Flatwater to Surf and Rivers

American law reports, second series, supplemental cases analyzed and classified. Later case service

Paddling Prince Edward Island