Club Awards 2014 in the Newsletter
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LONG ISLAND PADDLERS WINTER EDITION 2015 JANUARY 19, 2015 Blazing Paddles Club Awards 2014 In the Newsletter: Page 2: Message from the President Page 3: Chasing Whales in Quebec’s Saguenay - St Lawrence Page 5: Swan River Preserve Page 5: Training & Safety Page 8: Holiday Party Page 9: Southaven Park Page 10: Club Store Each year, the president, with doing for the past six years. His input from the Council, selects trips are always well organized Page 11: Club Library three volunteers to be recognized and executed. Because of his for their outstanding service to careful planning, hundreds of Page 12: Paddler the club. The awards were club members have had the Connections announced at the Holiday Party opportunity to experience the and framed certificates were beautiful waters of the east end. handed out. and grilled burgers at our Fall Frank Posillico has served as the Picnic. He was always willing to Membership Coordinator for the help, whenever and wherever he The Silver Whistle Award, also was needed. Frank was awarded known as the Trip Leader of the past two years, one of the most important and time consuming the Silver Paddle Award for being Year, was given to the person the person who made the who provides the members of the jobs in the club. This year, he also volunteered as a Trip Leader greatest impact, overall, to the club the best experience on the club this year. water. This year, the Silver and Special Events Assistant Whistle Award went to Don Coordinator. He helped select the locations for our picnics and The Ken Fink Award, formerly Goryki for leading four excellent known as the Lifetime paddles, something he has been holiday party, shopped for food, Continued on Page 16 PAGE 1 LONG ISLAND PADDLERS WINTER EDITION 2015 JANUARY 19, 2015 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT The Long Island Paddlers, Inc. is a kayak club. While discuss the ins and outs of being a Trip Leader. Last it’s true, some of us paddle canoes and some even use year, we decided to require all Trip Leaders to stand-up paddle boards (SUP) (although, for the life of demonstrate an assisted rescue at one of our pool me, I don’t know why), we are kayakers. We also like sessions. Several of the club’s cerfied instructors to eat and socialize, and then eat some more, but the were on-hand to demonstrate and teach several forms thing that brought all of us together in the first place of assisted rescue. In addion, this year, one of our was our interest in or love of kayaking. members will be teaching CPR to anyone interested in leading trips, at no cost to the individual. While this is Our meengs every month give us a chance to find out not a requirement, it’s a lifesaving skill that everyone what’s going on in our club world, learn something should learn. new about kayaking, socialize with our friends, and eat. These meengs also give us a chance to purchase Being a Trip Leader is not easy. You have to aend a items from our Club Store and to sign out a DVD or meeng, go to a pool session, set a day aside, organize book from our Club Library. All that’s great! the paddle, and then lead a group of people you may not even know to some of your favorite paddling But kayaking with other people is why we joined this spots. It’s a lot of work. But the pay-off is huge. First, club. The Short Noce Form on the website allows us it just feels good to share beauful places with other to connect with fellow members for a paddle at the people. Second, I’ve met so many nice people on the last second. The Paddles and Events’ page on the trips I have led. And some of those same people are website allows us to plan a kayak oung weeks or now my best friends. months in advance which is helpful when the trip is off Long Island, out of state, or even out of the country. So, if you think you are up for a challenge, and you want to meet some great people while helping your There are approximately 300 people in our club. Last club fulfill its mission, consider aending one of our year, eleven Trip Leaders posted thirty-three paddling Trip Leaders’ Workshops. I guarantee you won’t trips. If every member joined just one trip, there regret it. would have been ten people on each of those 33 trips. If every member went on two trips, the number of people per trip would double to twenty, and so on. Most members of our club want to aend more than ~ Steve Berner, President one or two club trips, and this creates a problem. Groups of twenty-five, thirty, or forty people kayaking together is difficult to lead and can be dangerous. The simple answer to this problem is more Trip Leaders. We on the Council recognize that not everyone is comfortable leading trips so five years ago we created the Trip Leaders’ Workshop. This is a night where experienced Trip Leaders sit down with each other and people interested in leading trips and PAGE 2 LONG ISLAND PADDLERS WINTER EDITION 2015 JANUARY 19, 2015 CHASING WHALES IN QUEBEC’S SAGUENAY - ST. LAWRENCE For those Long Island Paddlers last year not able to make this trip here is my quick recap…. After two days of driving from Long Island, I quickly discovered that the Quebec province has plenty of stunning natural scenery to offer. It was now on to Saguenay-St. Lawrence for a few nights of tent camping, whale watching, kayaking and various other uniquely Quebecois activities. The small village of Tadoussac sits at the heart of the Marine Park, on the banks of the spectacular Saguenay Fjord after departing the ferry. Trivial Pursuit fans might be keen to learn the town’s namesake means udders or breasts. Although, according to other interpretations, it could also mean place of lobsters, place where the ice is broken (from the Montagnais shashuko), or among the rocks. So … who knows? That silly bit of trivia aside, it’s actually the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in Quebec, and the oldest surviving French settlement in the Americas. If I thought my trip to “Old” Quebec (the city, not the province) was a trip back in time, this sleepy seaside town is in a league of its own. Nearing Tadoussac, signage marks the section of Route 138 as the “Whale Route”. And with good reason: it is the seasonal home to one of the densest whale populations on the planet. Every building along the way is either a house or a business dedicated to the facilitation of whale watching in some fashion – cruise lines, ticket vendors, kayak rentals and the like. They take their whales seriously up here and I can’t say I blame them. More than once, I nearly careened into oncoming traffic while craning my neck in search of whales just beyond the steel highway barriers. Such is the allure of the world’s largest mammals. Finally after reaching Cap-de-Bon-Desire, and about thirty seconds after setting foot on a rocky outcrop overlooking the river, a handful of minke whales emerged a mere 100 yards from shore. The gleeful giggle I unintentionally uttered…and “WOW”, a few tears. I’m loathe to carelessly toss out superlatives, but it’s hard not to in the wake of such majestic and massive creatures. The experience is, quite literally, awe- inspiring, jaw-dropping, breathtaking … what am I leaving out? Perhaps more than anything: it’s humbling. Now to "Chasing the Whales"…the only way to get closer to them is via kayak or literally climbing into the water alongside them. While the whales were plentiful and the “watching” easy, out on the river, they PAGE 3 LONG ISLAND PADDLERS WINTER EDITION 2015 JANUARY 19, 2015 proved a bit more elusive on the water. But, minutes later, they were surfacing on all sides of my kayak – minke whales, seals, oh my! It was as though someone flipped the, “Let’s Make the Kayakers Happy” switch. And it worked. For the next hour or two or three, I watched as we were surrounded on all sides by these marine mammals. While the phrase “experience of a lifetime” is too often bandied about, I can say without an ounce of hyperbole that witnessing such beautiful animals as these from mere yards away is truly worthy of the description. Let’s get this out of the way: if there’s a more beautiful, more breathtaking, more amazing campground in the whole of North America than Paridis Martin, I’m unaware of it. And if you know of one, please e-mail me. At the end of an unassuming dirt road, this seaside campground features 30+ campsites with a spectacular view that overlooks the St. Lawrence River. The site is far enough from the road that you are guaranteed only to hear the crashing of the water below and the myriad birds that occupy the grounds. Every morning I woke to the sounds of whales breaching literally feet from the shoreline where my tent was located. Part two of this trip was to kayak in search of the “white” Beluga whales. In the Saguenay Fjord, renowned as one of the world’s most awesome. A haven of peace surrounded by nature in its wildest, most mesmerizing forms. Photos Courtesy of Dennis Greiser About a twenty minute car ride from Paradis Marin campground to the kayak put in.