December Holiday Party

Pool Session Report

October Meeting Minutes
by Robert Langley

Trip Reports

Morgan's Birthday
by Cecilia Gill

Pecos River - a Brief
by Donna Grimes

Canoe Kind of Guy

The Death of a River Mom

Like a lot of other Illinois paddlers, I can never remember a time when Marge was not a dominant force in our fairly tight community. I first met her when I hired her to teach an intro kayak course at College of DuPage in 1980. Our final exam was on the Red. As an open boater, I was soon humbled at Ziemer's. Marge just laughed it off, and told me how to patch the hole in my boat.

Over the twenty five years of our relationship, I came to know Marge as the most committed paddler I have ever met. Marge maintained more certifications in more paddling disciplines than anyone else. She was also one of the best teachers I have known. She was always willing to jump into any boat and do a perfect demo at any time, she always had the perfect teaching metaphor, and she expected no less of any Instructor who worked with her.

As they say, Marge did not suffer fools gladly. If she perceived that you were taking advantage of her or if you did not pay attention, she would get your attention in no uncertain terms. Marge was never one to mince words. At the same time, it was always clear that if you made the effort Marge would always be there, and the fact that she trained so many paddlers and had such an influence locally and nationally speaks to the unique person that she was.

Many of us also lived through the tragedy of her son Michael's death. I hired him to teach for me a couple of years before he died, and his gentle but firm teaching clearly showed the influence of the master. I had a conversation with him about a week before he died. We were planning on teaching a course on the Wolf that fall. His last words to me were "I love you man. I can't talk any more"...... I don't think Marge ever got over it.

Many of us marveled at Marge's ferocious attempts to stave off the physical things that began to happen to her. I remember the Paddle in the Park several years ago when Marge showed up holding the xrays of the stint she had had implanted the day before, and I remember teaching a course with Marge on the DuPage two years ago when she insisted on bringing her oxygen bottle in the canoe and directed he course while being ferried down the river. I think that may have been the last course she taught.

I had been feeling bad about not calling Marge, when I got a call from her a weeks ago Tuesday. I asked her how she was doing and she said she was OK but frustrated because she was still using oxygen. She wanted to know if I would do the Conant Solo Canoe course again, and I told her I was planning on it. She then said that she was thinking about coming to the IPC Season Ender Paddle last Saturday. I told her that we would all love to see her, but knew she probably wouldn't be there. She never stopped thinking about paddling. Until the very end the paddling community was Marge's second family, and she was truly our River Mom

Marge was truly a force of nature. We will all miss her. A memorial website has been established for Marge at http://www.chicagowhitewater.org/cwa/margecline.asp

Kim