Annual Assembly plus Adirondack Freestyle Symposium

Rob Stevens

Wooden Canoes are in the Blood
We have been approached by the organizers of the Adirondack Freestyle Symposium about holding their annual event at the same time as our 2016 Annual Assembly at Paul Smith's College.

AFS is one of several freestyle events sponsored by the ACA. http://www.freestylecanoeing.com/index.html

Some of you will recall that when Tom MacKenzie (RIP) was the organizer of the AFS for some years. This event was held the weekend prior to Assembly at Paul Smith's ie. back to back events. Later, when our regular cycle at PSC was disrupted by construction etc. AFS moved to nearby venues and the dates drifted apart.

The Assembly Coordinating Committee and the Board have discussed the idea and think it is a good idea to hold these events concurrently. This would be a welcome addition of like-minded (paddling) folks. Hosting parallel events would be mutually beneficial, strengthen the respective programs, bolster attendance and may increase membership of the respective organizations. (They also report a dwindling numbers and the need to recruit new, younger participants.)

Note; the programs for each event would be separate with limited overlap. AFS would be holding most of their scheduled activities at Church Pond, which offers more consistent calm water than Lake St. Regis.

Rob Stevens
Program Coordinator
WCHA Annual Assembly
 
A NO-BRAINER here , I think.....and I have missed Tom and his contribution and all that his work added that benefited the young among us. Dave D.
 
It might be that we should encourage WCHA Assembly attendees participation rather than watching by offering some trips locally so that those of us in the FS community can teach on the fly so to speak.. WCHA folk are most interested in going somewhere. We had a Pine Barrens workshop which taught some FreeStyle skills with minimal fancy stuff, no costumes and it was all done in trips on the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. We could simply run some trips up towards Long Pond or off Church to Osgood with some good opportunities for learning.
We on the FS end can certainly schedule some classes that would be of interest to WCHA attendees. No need to be young. No action necessary on your part Rob. I would appreciate learning of any feedback you might get.
My personal opinion is that Tom may be watching.. heck he might be influencing you and is very happy! Somehow I don't think he is resting.
 
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