Recreational Paddling School

[mngopher]

I was very impressed with the instruction given in the tandem canoe class. I have not paddled for quite awhile & had never been in the stern. I learned how to maneuver the canoe with the guidance of the instructors. Many thanks to Arthur, Stan, Mark, & Patty. All participants, both instructors & students, were very friendly, helpful, & passionate about paddling. Kudos to everyone who put on the school.

I'm looking forward to many more trips on the water.

Marty Lee

[Deuce]

Glad you enjoyed it Marty. It was definitely a great weekend.

[painterbob]

GREAT WEEKEND @ Rec School

[Wildwood]

I had a wonderful time, AGAIN! Many, many thanks to Marlo & Victor, and of course, Liz, for their time, skills and dedication to paddling. Thanks to ALL the volunteers.
You all ROCK!!!

[aquagirl]

Kudos to Liz & Michael for organizing another great Rec. School!!! Also to an amazing group of instructors that give so much to all their students.

It was fun to meet new folks. . . camp-neighbors, Marty, Luke & Jim plus students from different states. Always great to catch-up & visit with paddling friends we haven't seen in awhile too.

It was such a pleasure to run sweep for Marlo & Victor's class & watch the students gain confidence & skill. Thanks to Jordan for running safety with us & providing much needed man-power lugging those heavy boats around.

Looking forward to next year already!
Beth Forbes

[Marlo Krueger]

Thanks to Liz and Michael for another great Rec School! They put in so much time and effort to make it happen and put up with so many hassels that they really deserve more than a mere thank-you.

Thank you to my co-instructor who couldn't have been better, Victor Lawrence, and to our two safety boaters, Jordan Murphy and Beth Forbes! They just couldn't have been better supporters! All of whom offered some help to me personally that I really appreciated!!!! What a great group!!!!

Thanks to our students too. They were a great bunch! They showed courage and tenacity. They did what we asked of them and showed that they listened to what we said by improving their skills on the river. What a great group! Next year can't come too soon!
Marlo

[Louiscov]

Amen to the kudos above! Well deserved.

Indeed rec school was SUPERB this year and it's awesome to be a part of it. Great comraderie and energy. AND FUN!!! It is just so wonderful to see paddlers progress during the weekend, often from being timid and really struggling in the lake session Saturday to running Saddler Falls on Sunday!! The growth in confidence and competence is so great to see develop. Great being with other instructors too. We're all BLESSED to have a passion in life that means so much to us we want to share it with others.

Liz and Michael's hard work made the weekend possible for students and instructors. Thanks so much, and I'm in for next year's school!!

[we66erno1]

If you recall there was a guy standing on an island, with helmet cam. I got a lot of pictures of everyone that came down Saddler Falls. I created an album on my FB page, that is open to the public. Here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 559&type=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Feel free to tag yourself. And if we're not friends on there, go ahead and click that button too.

If your not in any of the pictures, it means I have video of your descent through Saddler. And you'll be showing up in a video montage here soon. Hopefully i can have it done, before i leave out for FIBArk.

P.S.

The only carnage you'll see is gonna be of non-students. But I do have some incriminating photos. You know who you are, that owe us a bootie beer.

[AR-Nimrod]

Big thanks to Liz and Mike for another great Rec School. Mike gets a double shot because he was also one of my instructors along with Pat C and Dave H our safety boater. Very enjoyable weekend. Even though this was my 3rd year to attend I still took away more needed skills and hopefully? corrected some bad habits. We had a great class enjoyed meeting an paddling with Allie, Ann, Bob (a.k.a Rapid Rob), Brenda, and Brian. Look forward to paddling with y'all again soon. If we ever get any rain. If not, maybe will see some of y'all at Rockport.

Hannah couldn't wait to tell me that she retained her title as 'throw bag diva' in her class. And she was very proud to tell me that she had no swims this year. So, I also need to include big thanks to Louis C, Jimmy B and Gary R, Hannah's instructors and safety boater.

I also got a report that Hannah drank her Gatorade instead of pouring it on Gary. So, they (or Louis and Jimmy) must have been able to control their customary river shenanigans.

[Deuce]

I'd like to state for the record that if you saw me riding Cowper's boat downriver it weren't 'cause I flipped. It was 'cause I had so much fun in Saddler I forgot to eddy out and wait for everybody else, so I beached my boat and walked back up then hitched a ride back down, which was also fun. Thanks Cowper!

[Deuce]

Big thanks to Liz and Mike for another great Rec School. Mike gets a double shot because he was also one of my instructors along with Pat C and Dave H our safety boater. Very enjoyable weekend. Even though this was my 3rd year to attend I still took away more needed skills and hopefully? corrected some bad habits. We had a great class enjoyed meeting an paddling with Allie, Ann, Bob (a.k.a Rapid Rob), Brenda, and Brian. Look forward to paddling with y'all again soon. If we ever get any rain. If not, maybe will see some of y'all at Rockport.

Hannah couldn't wait to tell me that she retained her title as 'throw bag diva' in her class. And she was very proud to tell me that she had no swims this year. So, I also need to include big thanks to Louis C, Jimmy B and Gary R, Hannah's instructors and safety boater.

I also got a report that Hannah drank her Gatorade instead of pouring it on Gary. So, they (or Louis and Jimmy) must have been able to control their customary river shenanigans.

Sure made me happy to see those smiling kids on the river.

[fiddleboy]

I would like to add my voice to those saying what a great time we (Brenda and I) had, and a special shout out to Liz and Michael for great organizing, and Michael especially who was also our kayaking instructor; Pat C., and Dave H., you guys are awesome! Agree with all AR-Nimrod's comments. Hey Chris!

Bob
"Rapid Rob"

[Cowper]

I’d also like to thank (in more or less random order):

Liz and Mike for the work and organization and Liz again for loaning me a boat

DeBo for driving an extra car so I could stay late Sunday

We66erno1 and Woody for helping shuttle and for setting safety at Saddler Falls on Sunday, and for their work to go back late Sunday and remove that aluminum canoe that was creating a serious hazard (broken edges capable of cutting someone up real bad, not to mention the entrapment potential)

Howard and the other Saddler falls homeowners for letting us set safety and access the canoe using their property

Frank and Larry, fellow instructor and safety boater, as well as all the other instructors and safety boaters who contributed to the overall experience

And of course, the students, who kept coming back for more, even on Sunday. I really appreciate the chance to share something I love so much with others.

[sig]

Aly and I had a blast and were impressed at the organization, curriculum and friendliness of the entire ACC! We learned a lot and we're looking forward to being a part of this group.

We should apologize though, for the lack of rain lately. It has to be related to the five boats our family and our friends bought from OOO this spring!

FYI we wrote a post about Rec School over at ArkansasOutside.com. AO would like to cover more paddling activities so feel free to talk to Joe or Lisa about submitting your own articles. Joe posts here as "ODB".