The Vermont Paddlers Club

My Fellow Paddlers,

For the past two years, we have had many good times, on the rivers, the lakes, and streams; and as your president, I want to THANK all of you, that have gone out of your way to help me, and our club, the NORTHERN VERMONT CANOE CRUISERS.

Here we are again, another canoeing season starting, and as the active club we are, there are many events that are exciting and challenging ahead of us. Besides our annual whitewater weekends, our tasty cover dish supper, the July 4th Chiott Open Canoe Races, our flatwater season, and in August, the Howard Grover Annual Regatta. This year we also have a chance to paddle with other canoeists, from all over the nation, down the GREAT MISSISSIPPI RIVER, in keeping with the Bicentennial Celebration. Oh, I can't forget this year's SPECIAL trip down the, ST. JOHN'S RIVER in June. All these activities are going to take a lot of help and corporation from everyone, so lets all get in on the fun, and...... THANKS AGAIN.

Keep Your Bow Forward,

Dear Gov. Salmon:

It is my pleasure to tell you about a Bicentennial event that is quite different from any other you may have heard about. This historically related event will commemorate a Revolutionary War canoe ride to alert the American garrison in St. Louis of British military advances in the upper Mississippi River.

That epic canoe ride of nearly 400 miles was made by then Dubuque area resident Jean Marie Cardinal. His heroic voyage succeeded in that an alerted St. Louis garrison defeated the British in the only Revolutionary War battle fought west of the Mississippi, although Cardinal died of wounds suffered in that engagement.

The consequences of his heroism and that battle, marked the end of British military adventures on the Mississippi. Not surprisingly, it led to a Treaty of Paris settlement of a United States boundary on the Mississippi, rather than along the Appalachian chain.

Unfortunately, Cardinal's gallant voyage passed into the shadows of history for want of another poet, like Longfellow, who could have eulogized this Paul Revere of the Mississippi.

That, then, is the authentic historical background against which the City of Dubuque is inviting the nation's canoe enthusiasts to participate in a truly national, bicentennial event--a fourteen-day canoe trip from Dubuque, Iowa, arriving in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 4, 1976.

Initial response from official sources in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri has been strongly supportive. Citizen enthusiasm is such that an upper limit on participants must be considered. We want to insure, however, that each State in the Union will have the opportunity to be represented in this National event ... at least by one canoe and two passengers.

Consequently, we request that appropriate individuals or departments be informed of this adventure in living history.

Please address inquiries to project coordinator:
Harry Neustadt
Community Development Department
480 Fischer Building
Dubuque, Iowa 52001

Intersted in the upcoming St. John's River (ME) Canoe Trip? One week: June 4-12, 1976.......Twelve canoes only - 24 paddlers.........Speak with Trip leaders Bill Fake and/or Norm Lavoie.

Whitewater schedule and June covered dish supper plans will be mailed in March.

Looking for or need a canoe partner, looking for a ride or space available in your car, etc.???? Call our new "Canoe Coordinators" Bill and Jacky Alarie at 878-8103.

The team of Alan Coulter and Bob Duncan of Burlington completed the Chiott Open Canoe Race in 27:11 off the Burlington waterfront on July 4 to capture the Northern Vermont Canoe Cruisers-sponsored cup.

Coulter and Duncan finished more than two minutes ahead of Dave Williams and Sherm White from the Johnson area, who were second in 28:28. Patrick Giroux of Vergennes and Donald Ambuhl of Burlington finished third in 29:38.

In other races, Clyde and Elizabeth Smith won the mixed race in 21:17, beating Guy and Sally Newhall of Jeffersonville who were second in 22:22. Dave Wellington and Susan Field of Waitsfield finished third in 30:25.

Blair and Normand Lavoie won the children's race in 7:01. Steve and Kristy Oxholm of Colchester finished second and Martha Knight and Richie Does of Burlington finished third in 10:15.

Elaine Lavoie of South Burlington and Susan Alden of Burlington teamed to win the women's race in 7:31. Lynne Does and Weezy Matthias of Burlington were judged to be second, but had the same time, and Linda Sewell of Essex teamed with Jackie Alarie of Colchester for third in 9:04.

WASHINGTON - Legislation designed to block the construction of a multi-purpose dam on the White River at Gaysville, Vermont, has been introduced by U. S. Sen. Robert T. Stafford.

"Vermonters have no desire to flood forever a beautiful stretch of the White River behind a dam that would be built 190 feet high some miles upriver from where the White River joins with the Connecticut River," Stafford said.

Construction of the dam has also been opposed by Gov. Thomas Salmon of Vermont. Stafford and Salmon joined in a formal request to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deauthorize the project.

Noting the near-unanimous opposition to the construction of the dam in Vermont, Stafford said "even the Corps of Engineers now seems to agree" that the dam should not be built.

The dam was authorized by Congress in the Flood Control Acts of 1936, 1938, and 1941. More than $206,000 have been spent on design work, but no land has been taken or purchased and no construction work has been started.

A highly successful annual covered dish supper was held on June 12, 1975, with a very large group of 87 members, lots of fun and door prizes donated by Jim and Kay Henry (Mad River), John Berry (Millbrook/Berrigan) and Bob and Barbara Schumacher (Canoe Imports).

An excellent movie on hypothermia was shown, together with slides of club canoe adventures from Horace Strong, Chris Cancro and Dave Keenan. There were also exhibits and a large model of a canoe.

Congratulations to "chairpeople" Elaine Lavoie and Pam Fielder and thanks to many others who helped out.

The Regatta was held on Saturday, July 26, at Sandbar State Park, under the chairmanship of Alan Roberts and Dick Trudell.

Due to the strong wind from the north, the events in the water were moved to the sheltered southern side of the Sandbar. Courses for the events were set up and the scheduled demonstrations were given. Demonstrations included canoe paddling strokes, kayak techniques and finally some safety pointers and demonstrations. After the demonstrations the group retired to the Park for lunch.

Following lunch the competitions were held. A brief description of each event and top finishers are given below:

1. Sprint: The sprints consisted of two races as a group from the shore around the power capstan and back. These were fast, vigorous races of just the right length.

First Heat (Mixed)

Second Heat

2. Slalom: A short slalom course was set up which required use of most of the basic whitewater strokes such as drawing, prying, back paddling.

Time with Penalties

3. Gunwale Pumping Race: Gunwale pumping involves standing (solo) on the gunwales of the canoe and with an up-down motion of the body (pumping) the canoe can be propelled forward. After a demonstration by Al Robertson the techniques of this feat, six spirited souls entered the race. Despite a few spills and collisions all contestants but one finished the race!

4. Tug of Wars: The object of this race is the same as the "dry" version but is accomplished in a different manner. Two OLD TOWN TRIPPERS with a rope tied between them were used for the race. Four people were allowed in each canoe and no paddles were allowed.

The winning team was Dick Trudell, Larry Thompson, Pat Grover and Doug Laiho.

After this race and cleaning up the area used the group retired back to the park for a watermelon seed spitting contest.

Androscoggin (NH): June 14-15, 1975

A good paddle down the great Androscoggin River - starting just below the Errol Dam the water level was at the right height for a beautiful run - the flatwater canoes joined us just below the Errol Bridge. The weather was perfect for the paddle down to the Brown Camp Bridge just before Seven Islands. Here we saw our first moose. A perfect ending to a perfect day of canoeing. That night we stayed at the Mollidgewock Campground. (Mollidgewock now has a caretaker named "Moose," and the charge for camping is $1 per person per night) After supper we paddled up Mollidgewock Stream to a small bridge and inspected a hunting camp, saw a bear's track. Then an interesting canoe race with Blair and Norm Lavoie, Bill Fake, Bobby Lambert, and Carol Cusack, Al Roberts and Fred Jordan. If there was any wildlife, it took off for the woods. On Sunday we started at the Brown Camp Bridge and paddled through the beautiful Seven Islands. After some strong flatwater, we were rewarded with a close paddle to a cow moose and her calf. What a sight, especially for the new members of our club. About 1:00 p.m. we had lunch on an island and reached Pontook Dam about 3:00. We made some good time. Here the flatwater people ended their trip and others ran Pontook Rapids. The whitecaps were the grand prize to a hard paddling weekend.

Lower Winooski River: June 22, 1975

No report.

Green River Reservoir: July 13, 1975

Despite a wait of an hour and one-half for the rains to stop, we enjoyed a very fine trip on this wild lake north of Hyde Park. Lunches were eaten in the cars while waiting for rains to stop. We then visited both dams and saw some of the lake that many of us had not seen before. The leader was lucky enough to catch a fine pickerel. There were four canoes and eight people.

Lamoille River: July 20, 1975

No report.

Waterbury Reservoir: August 10, 1975

This was a combined trip of Green Mountain Club and Canoe Cruisers. It turned out that there were many more Canoe Cruisers than GMC members despite the fact that this was a repeat of last year's Canoe Cruiser trip.

Although we had hoped to put in on Little River and canoe down to the Reservoir, this proved impossible due to lack of water. However, we were able to canoe down the reservoir and up the river for a short way. Two stops were made at a good beach, first for lunch and then for a rest stop. Both times most members had a good swim.

We made this an easy trip both in distance and by rest stops. Starting at 10:00 from Holiday Inn in Waterbury we were back at put-in place by 3:30. I feel that easy trips are what flatwater people want and that too many of our trips are too long and too hard. But of course there can be a mixture of both if we have enough trips so that a good selection can be made.

There were nine boats on the trip. The total number of persons was 22 with 7 GMC members, 17 Canoe Cruisers, 3 guests, and 5 persons were members of both clubs.

Missisquoi River: August 17, 1975

No report.

Aziscohos Lake (ME): August 23-25, 1975

This joint trip with the Green Mountain Club was held for the third year. We all met at the Aziscohos Dam. We drove to a different put-in spot which was scouted out several weeks earlier. This put-in spot cut the trip up the lake down by two-thirds. This put-in spot is recommended if there is any head wind. A group of canoeists the next day paddled up the length of the lake in a head wind and it took them eight hours. We made the camping area by about 3:00 and set up camp in a beautiful white birch area. After dinner a nice campfire was enjoyed by all in preparation for the cold night to follow. The next -morning it was 36' at about 6 a.m. Brrr! After breakfast the group split with the Jordans and Dan Dorso returning home (work beckoned on Monday) with a stop for some whitewater on the Androscoggin along the way. The remaining members went on a combined canoe-hike, up to the Parmacheenee Lake Dam on the Magalloway River. Due to the low water (down about 6 feet from 2 weeks previous) we had to drag the canoes in some place. From the take-out place we hiked about 2 to 3 miles to the dam with some interesting nature chats and reminiscing by Jack Harrington. Finally we came upon an abandoned cabin near the dam with a smoke stack just right for Butler Lodge. Jack started a salvage operation. We finally got the smoke stack and went to the dam. After a peaceful lunch while watching some people catching trout up river (they (the trout) weren't there two weeks before) Finally, after convincing Jack to leave the smoke stack behind, we decided to try an unexplored way back much to the dismay of a minority. We finally got back to the canoes and camp about 4:00.

The second night proved to be much warmer and wet. The group broke camp after breakfast. After leaving the Wakemans to return to Pembroke, the remaining members stopped in Errol, N. H. for lunch. A short whitewater run (about 4 miles) was taken by Jack Harrington and Al Roberts with Andy Squires as a passenger. The run on the Androscoggin went from Mollidgewock Stream to the Seven Island Bridge. An excellent, exhilarating way to end a weekend. The cars were ferried by George Saunders and Carlene Whitcomb. We reached Burlington about 6:00.

Upper Connecticut River: September 13-14, 1975

A crisp but sunny day to start out on, but a disappointing turnout. Six members in three canoes made the trip. We met Saturday morning in Bloomfield and put in at Lemington by the Columbia Bridge. There had been sufficient rainfall in the past weeks to give us enough water for a pleasant trip. Occasional stretches of mild rapids were encountered to make the trip more enjoyable. Within four hours we had reached the Lyman Falls Dam where we camped for the evening. (Camping gear had been left at the site). There was some opportunity for playing in the rapids next to the dam before supper. Unfortunately after supper it rained off and on all night so that we decided to leave our tents up during Sunday to dry.

Sunday was overcast and cold but a good current pushed us right along. We ate lunch at the junction of Paul Stream and continued down to Maidstone where we took out.

If the trip is run again, I would suggest putting in higher up the Connecticut, possibly at Colebrook, as Saturday's run was quite short time-wise. Sunday's run was about right considering that most folks would like to get home early on Sunday. Since there were some mild rapids, the trip would not be recommended for a total beginner, but for someone with at least some paddling experience, the trip would be enjoyable.

Dead Creek Foliage Trip: September 28, 1975

No report.

White River: September 28, 1975

The heavy rains of the past week provided ample water for a full whitewater trip. Three kayaks ran the river from Stockbridge to Bethel in the morning and repeated the run in the afternoon. The foliage was at its peak and when the sun came out the views from the river were beautiful. The run was much faster than anticipated and gave us time to play in the rapids and practice technique.

Winooski River: October 6, 1975

A beautiful fall day, sunny and 65 degrees with the foliage just past peak. We put in at Bolton Falls, the starting point for the raft race, and took out at Jonesville. The water level was moderate and we scraped our way along above the railroad trestle. Other than that there were no problems, except for an accidental tip later in the afternoon. The trip is 6 miles and takes about three hours on the water. We had plenty of time to play around in some rapids, sneak up on some ducks and take pictures of the foliage.

American Canoe Association publishes Canoe Magazine and covers all areas of the sport from poling to sailing - not to mention whitewater, flatwater, marathon, camping, etc. It sanctions races, publishes schedules, etc. Membership is $7 per year to ACA, 4260 East Evans Ave., Denver, Colo. 80222.

American Whitewater Affiliation publishes American Whitewater, etc. $5 per year to AWA, P. 0. Box 321, Concord, New Hampshire 03301.