Phew, what a week. Final coordination for
the Paddlefest today which was the
culmanation of a two year stint as Paddle
Trails Coordinator for Berkeley County.
1001 and one things to take care of. On
Wednesday I took a reporter and photographer
out for a full day of paddling. Yesterday,
Charlestons Post and Courier had a quarter
page article, Front Page, above the fold,
about my paddle trails programs complete
with picture of me kayaking through one of
my fishing holes.*G* Today, amid severe
weather and tornado watches, we held the
paddlefest. Good turn out, lots of paddle
sports vendors, food, live music, nature
walks, birds of prey, the Orvis Rep giving
demonstrations, jump castle and story lady
for the little guys, family canoe tours of
the park, and the local radio station live
on scene. I tried to keep my distance from
them but they finally corralled me and
interviewed me on the radio for 20 minutes.
Later in the day, numerous folks came up and
said they heard me on the radio and wanted
to talk to me about paddling. I had a
round table discussion scheduled this
afternoon and spent it showing slides of
all 23 paddle trails totaling 175 miles to
a packed room. Lots of back and forth with
other paddlers and a lot of interested
beginners. Many phone numbers exchanged and
lots of invites to paddle and fish.
The vendors tell me they sold more kayaks,
canoes, and associated gear than they ever
did in their brick and morter shops in a
single day.*G* We wrapped it all up with
a drawing for a nice kayak and gear and
made a young man very happy. Before he
left, Dee, the Orvis rep fine tuned my
double haul. Hands on really does make a
big difference.*G* The weather held till
near the end. Afterwards, we recapped the
days events over appropriate adult beverages
and the program and todays kickoff were
declared a resounding success.*G* I now
join the ranks of the retired and assume a
full time position as a recreational fly
fisherman. I'll do my level best to do a
good job at it. Just had to share today
with my friends.*G* Warm regards, Jim