The Vermont Paddlers Club

The president's last statement ended with his comments about helping the club advance at a pace demanded by the members and the future growth of our sport. Thanks to all members who volunteered, the club has made some major accomplishments. The club produced three successful clinics last summer: one novice and two advanced whitewater rescue clinics -- more than I can remember the club ever doing. The club increased its amount of pool sessions provided for the paddling community. The club is back on line in river issues, working on conservation directly related to paddling, making investments that we hope will have a positive impact for paddlers of Vermont and their surrounding communities. The in-kind donations funneled through VPC for 2004 almost reached an equivalent of four thousand dollars dedicated to safety, education, and conservation issues. The majority of the donations were services provided, with a small portion from the general fund. We should give thanks to our affiliate, American Canoe Association, and to businesses VPC members operate - Mark Moore of Outdoor Mentors, and Lori Barg of Step by Step. Others were Eric Bishop and participants in the June advanced rescue clinic. I apologize if I missed anyone.

It will be challenging to match these accomplishments in the coming year, but I have confidence in the dedication of the membership, their willingness to make a difference for our communities, and to make the most of opportunities presented. By pooling together, negotiating the obstacles, we'll meet our goals and reach our destination. One of the obstacles the membership needs to negotiate is additional pool sessions. They increase the commitment of club resources and depend on members, their family and friends to participate in the pool sessions for the programs to be successful. Our committed efforts for safety are related to pool sessions and with spring paddling around the corner, I encourage our members to take advantage of pool sessions. Bring your boat of choice, recover that center of balance and get the confidence of hitting that roll the first time to make a more enjoyable whitewater season.

More safety talk! I recommend everyone check his/her equipment for defects, if you find any please correct the problem before you get on the river. Review and practice your safety techniques. Please use good judgment on the rivers. Plan ahead look downstream a lot and communicate both safe routes and hazardous routes that may need to be avoided. Try to notice features that might throw you off line into hazards when attempting harder rapids. Although paddling is an individual skill, good practices include working together. Paddle with a group, and have good communication established. Have a good understanding of each individual's capabilities within the skill level of the group and the required skill level for the trip. Being careful can still be fun.

Final Note: We're in need of volunteers to fill the Secretary, Activities, and Communications positions. Anyone interested in having fun with these please stand up and be recognized.

The VPC is looking forward to hosting our annual novice clinic. The date and location of the clinic is not available yet, but we are looking to start signing up students, instructors, and safety boaters/helpers. If anyone would like to volunteer to help us out with this years clinic, please contact James Raboin at 527-8328, or by e-mail at raboins@localnet.com. Tell everyone who may be a potential student to contact James as well, or go on our website, vtpaddlers.net, to sign up for the clinic. We look forward to introducing the exciting sport of whitewater to more Vermonters!

Little River

Representatives from the club participated in fourteen meetings with VANR, Army Corp., USGS, Town of Waterbury commissioners, Trout Unlimited and others over the last ten months to promote the development of the Little River and to get some kind of measure of interest with this type of project. On November 10 & 11, 2004 under the supervision of Step by Step Community Environment Solutions, volunteers from Vermont Paddlers Club conducted field work, taking measurements and collecting sediment samples for a geomorphic assessment of the Little River approximately half mile required for weir removal. Volunteers involved on these weekdays were: Andy Meilleur, Fritz Senftleber, Jack Daggit, Ken Roberts, Karen Henry, and Ray Ingram. Thanks for all your efforts.

West River

Our relationship with the directors of New England Flow and our knowledge of the work they're doing on the West River provided us the opportunity to set up the line of communication so Mike Crane of Crane Associates would have an opportunity to present his proposal of the economic assessment that he presented us at our last March banquet. Mike did such a great job on his proposal he secured employment from New England Flow to finish his economic study with the hope of saving releases on the West River for future paddlers. Congratulations Mike and thanks for working so hard on a great cause.

We clearly need new members of the Executive Committee, to replace folks that have moved away or who are moving away. We also need people to help lead trips, teach or assist with the novice clinic, etc. Also, at the end of 2005, we need to elect new officiers for the following two years. PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE IF YOU WANT TO HELP.

The ACA has been hit with significant increases in insurance rates, and will assess Paddle America Clubs at the rate of $5 per ACA member (plus $100 per club) to make up the costs. Many of us believe ACA should have raised dues rather than pass along the job of collection to the clubs, but they did not. VPC will be assessed approximately $800 - a major part of our income. We cannot cover this from dues, but have to pass the assessment along to members. Members can choose to cease their ACA membership when they get notice for renewal, and that will get rid of the assessment for 2006 - but for 2005 all members were already counted. We need to ask the ACA members to provide this $5 per ACA member to VPC, to recover the assessment.

The following table will hopefully help you determine the total ACA / VPC cost, and how much we need you to send to VPC and to ACA. The 'number of ACA members' is within a dues-paying household. The 'zero ACA members' is for folks who are members just of VPC - that is still allowed - but, if you are not an ACA member, there is a $10 charge per person per event for 'official VPC trips' on-water activities, that is sent to ACA as insurance payment.

Now, to whom do you send the money? If you are joining ACA as a Paddle America member for the first time, send the entire total to Richard Larsen, and he will enroll you in ACA. If you are already an ACA member and are renewing ACA and VPC, send an amount equal to 'VPC dues + ACA assessment' to Rich as soon as possible, and 'ACA dues' to ACA when you get a billing notice from them. Hope this helps.
Call Rich at 802-878-6828 if questions.

ACA has changed the waiver, and we need to ask ACA members to sign the new one, attached, and send it to Rich Larsen, 11 Discovery Road, Essex Junction, Vt. It is an update to what you just signed. There is good news. Once we get a place a mechanism to track the waivers, there will only be a need for 1 to be signed each year - not one each event.

Remember to use the VPC website for all the latest news, and for updates to the official and 'bootleg' schedules. The URL is www.vtpaddlers.net