River Fest 2016
 

River Fest- June 4th
Thank you everyone who came out to volunteer for River fest this year! The event would not have run as well without everyone's help and flexibility.

We had 5 canoes, 2 tandem kayaks and 5 kayaks for the public (10 total kayaks w/members included) out on the water for the event. After I got home, I counted 177 signed releases. I know many people went for 2 or even 3 rides, so I would bet our total number of rides was well over 200 for the day. According to Ken's GPS, the round trip up to the bridge/rapids and back is 0.64 miles and an average of 23 minutes per trip. He made 23 trips for a total of almost 8 miles. Just to give everyone an idea of how far everyone who volunteered paddled that day.

River Fest June 5th Niles to Girard Mahoning River
Unfortunately, due to the weather and threat of severe storms, the paddle with the public on Sunday was cancelled. We had to make the decision early to make sure everyone was notified, and at that time, the storms were forecasted to be coming when we predicted we would still be on the water. We chose to play it safe and just cancel the paddle rather than risk still being on the water in a storm. The storms ended up coming later in the afternoon then first predicted, so we probably would have been off the water. Although a disappointment to cancel the trip, we would rather err on the safe side especially with a large amount of beginners and public paddlers expected to show up. Thanks to Don Rex for putting so much effort into helping plan and co-ordinate the trip.

Jessica Hoffart

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