| The April 19th 2008
Paddle
Days on the Roanoke offered up beautiful weather for 70+ paddlers
from around North Carolina, Virginia and even two newcomers to the area from
Belgium!
Southern
Pines, Southern Shores, Elizabeth City, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill,
Wilmington, Winston-Salem and Washington were just some of the towns
represented.
Paddlers launched from River's Edge restaurant in Jamesville and paddled
down to Broad Creek, lunching on Roanoke River Partner's Cow Creek camping
platform; then paddled through Cut Cypress Creek and returned to
Jamesville later in the afternoon. A few spent the night on some of
platforms along the route or nearby.
This year's Paddle Days event was initiated by members of the
Roanoke Paddle Club and members Bill Webb, Hunter LeFoe, Matt
Matthews, Victor VanNortwick, Tyler Ward and George Harrison were invaluable
in planning the route and paddling along with inexperienced paddlers to make
sure no one got lost on one of the many creeks that can be so deceiving.
Tom Potter and Rodney Johnson with the
North Carolina
Paddle Trails Association and David Hodges with
MidEast RC&D went out of their way to put additional signage and
trail markers along the route. They spent days clearing out the cut to make
sure that no one had to portage around blocked areas. Finally, the
Martin County
Tourism Development Authority provided very attractive t-shirts
commemorating the event to be given to each paddler that made the 13 mile
trek.
In conjunction with this year's event, a
beautiful 14+ foot canoe designed by John Winters was raffled off as a
fundraiser. The canoe was displayed in the
Great Outdoor Provision Company in Greenville, NC, another great
supporter of Roanoke River Partners. Congratulations to the lucky winner,
Mr. Dana Ellis, of Windsor, NC.
"This year's event was a rousing success
thanks to these and many more important and avid supporters and members of
Roanoke River Partners," said RRP president and acting director Lucia Claire
Peel. "We are sincerely grateful to all of you!" |
