Picnic / Safety Training / Camping

[mfdanko99]

The Club Picnic was amazing. Mark Vallecorsa did an amazing job going over first aid, survival if something would go wrong and CPR training. He brought a CPR dummy and skin like roll to show how to stuff a bad wound, and several ideas to keep in our safety bags like Israeli bandage and self turnikit. Mark was very prepared and really knows his stuff.
Afterwards we had John Libonati, a Mercer County Coroner, for more detail about CPR and brought several dummies of different sizes to help teach about giving CPR to different age groups. John also was doing certifications if any of us wanted it.
Thank you to Dustin Noel for organizing the safety event.

Afterward we had our meeting and had a feast that was fit for a king; if you left hungry it was your own fault.
After the Picnic Several members went back to camp were some of us went out for a paddle on Pymatuning Reservoir & tried some of Dustin's Canoe's.

On Sunday we had 6 Paddlers(5 kayaks & 1 Canoe) make there way down the Shenango River from the Pymatuning Dam to Riverside Park in Greenville PA. We had a little trouble with the shuttle as they turned Allan street from a two way to a one way street and that through me for a curve ball and had to find a new way to the park.
Once on the water Ken, Cheryl, Jodi, Mark, Jess and myself enjoyed a nice a and peaceful 9 mile paddle. We got to hear about Mark & Jodi flood stage rescue on this section roughly 9 years ago. This was the first time Jodi has paddle this section since the rescue .
USGS at Pymatuning Gauge was 4.79 which was low with some bumping and scraping in spots. It was a great day to be on the water.
Mike

[KenM]

Cheryl and I had a fun weekend. We got to the lake Friday afternoon hoping to paddle the north part of the lake from the Wilson launch. Unfortunately it was too windy to comfortably paddle. We headed for the camp to find Stan, Steve and Linda already set up. They were there during the storm on Thursday afternoon. Eventually more campers showed up.

The Saturday morning safety training was good. Mark did a really great job with his presentation. I expected to just observe the CPR training part but as it turned out we all participated. This was good to do although I can't say I feel "qualified" to do this procedure. But in a pinch, at least I have a good idea of what to do.

As usual, there was waaay too much food at the picnic.

We paddled a couple of times from camp Saturday evening. The lake was a bit choppy but settled down later on. There was a good crowd at camp Saturday. Thanks to Dustin for arranging this. It was good to have some time chat with other members.

The paddle on the Shenango Sunday was nice. Lots of shade and a pretty good current for a low water level. This is a very curvy section of river. K & C have done this section nine times that I can recall. We are always amazed at some of the strange currents that will grab the stern of your boat and just turn you around. You have to do a good bit of paddling even with approx. 1.5 mph current. At the end of the 9.2 mi paddle it's good to see the park at Greenville.

---KenM

[Ambridger]

Mike and Ken forgot to mention that there was carnage on the Shenango . . . Much of the stream was twisting and turning with deadfalls littering the path, however there is some obvious maintenance that is done to maintain a channel. We never had to portage, however one particular narrow bend in the river was shallow to the inside and had a bit more forceful current and depth to the outside of the bend. There was a tree stump at the apex of the outer aspect of the bend. One had to fight the current coming out of the bend to make a quick adjustment so as to not be pushed into the stump, nor the deadfall forming a strainer coming out of the bend. Well . . . trying to avoid the inside of the bend, so as to not run aground, I let myself get pushed against the stump on the outside of the bend, and was unable to paddle, being up against the stump and the bank of the river. As I tried to move my paddle and push away from the stump, I quickly found myself tea cups over tea kettle in the water. I held onto my paddle, for better or for worse, and thanks to my PFD I promptly resurfaced. Mike and Ken had turned around and paddled back up to assist me, and the ladies were downstream collecting the belongings that fell out of my boat. My hand was throbbing in pain, and I'm still not exactly sure why; if trying to hold the paddle bent my thumb backwards or if I struck it against something . . . At the end of the trip I took my glove off to find that something had punctured my glove and I had a gash about my thumb. It's been three days, and I'm healing but still sore. Now that darn upper Shenango has gotten me twice. Any who . . . thanks to Mike and Ken for the assist, and to Cheryl, Jess, and Jodi for gathering my stuff. Jess got a post carnage pic that I will try to share soon. Dagnabbit! The Shenango got me again! And as they say, we are all in between swims.