Table of Contents

Meeting Announcement

A Note from Jo Anne

The New Rio Vista

Thank You Letter to Rudy Rivers

River Lunches

Bob Foote Presentation

Camp Mohawk Instruction and Camp

First Quarter Pool Sessions

Minutes from May 2006 General Meeting

Trip Reports

Anne Olden: Lake Woodlands Paddle

Christy Long: Medina River Cleanup

Cindy Bartos: Memorial Day Paddle

Natalie Wiest: Oyster Creek Exploration

Classifieds

Upcoming Trips

Memorial Day Paddle
by Cindy Bartos

The storms began rumbling through early in the morning of May 29th. A quick check of the weather radar showed good news - the storms were moving north and east so we packed our lunch (glad we loaded boats the night before) and headed out to Columbus for the Annual Memorial Day (buddy) Paddle. We started the trip driving through the rain but just west of Houston the rain stopped and left a cloudy sky that would keep the temperatures down throughout the day. Not long after arriving at the boat ramp under Hwy 71 we got word the Fraser had cancelled the trip due to the weather. Well there were 16 boats (about 20 paddlers) ready to go so we put in and off we went.

Not long after putting in we saw several Mississippi kites – some soaring, some perched – a great sight to watch with or without binoculars. The water was a cool river green with a good current but the wind picked up soon after our leg stretch at the island (which due to changes in the landforms we took out on river right rather than on the island). Shortly before the usual lunch stop we saw 3 small deer creep hesitantly down to the river. They seemed to be more interested in quenching their thirst than be concerned about the kayaks and canoes paddling by.

While stopped for lunch the sky to the north became a dark gray and the wind really picked up with gusts we were guessing of 20 – 30 mph. We decided to secure the boats and wait it out to watch the direction of the storm. After determining the rain was going to pass us by we headed out on the river with the strong wind behind us at times – but was often a more challenging head or cross wind.

The take out at Beason’s Park was not far and we were all able to load the boats and head home satisfied by a wonderful day of paddling – and not a drop of rain!