Michael Grace
Lifetime Member
Well, I suppose most of us are back home from Assembly ’07 by now. My family broke camp and left Saturday morning before breakfast, sad to hit the road so early after having such a wonderful time. From someone from such a long distance away (south Florida), let me tell all of those far-flung folks out there how great the Assembly can be. We weren’t the farthest traveled- there were at least two people who came all the way from the United Kingdom, so it can be done. We logged nearly 4000 travel miles with canoes on top, and it was well worth it.
As always, the canoes and the people were wonderful. The Charles River canoes were spectacular, of course, and we were admonished several times for getting our years mixed up. We failed to bring some of our courting canoes from the Charles River (this year’s theme), but our two Herald double cedar canoes were extremely well received (Canadian canoes are the theme of NEXT YEAR’s Assembly!). Keuka Lake is beautiful and the canoes were beautiful on it; River and I also checked out the denizens of the deep by snorkeling, and the views of the underwater creatures were also rewarding. While learning more about wooden canes and their history is important, the real treat of Assembly was the chance to see lots of old friends and the opportunity to make new ones.
Driving through western New York, the farms of Pennsylvania, and the mountains of West Virginia on Saturday, I imagined all the canoe discussions happening on the lawn, what fascinating new finds might show up that day, and the array of canoes that must be participating in the paddle-by. As we drove into the night, we thought about camaraderie around a campfire and kids expending the last of their energy together. Assembly is so much fun that it’s difficult to leave early. With a fairly diverse array of passions, Tanya and I are anything but single-minded people. Even so, we could talk about little else but canoes, the WCHA, and the great people of the WCHA during our two days of driving home.
So thanks very much to all of the organizers and participants for a wonderful time. Thanks especially to Ken Kelly and to Dan Miller/Dick Persson for excellent talks on Charles River canoe history. And to any of you would-be participants from far away, consider a week of vacation devoted to Assembly 2008 in Peterborough, Ontario. You will not be disappointed.
Michael, Tanya, and River Grace
(by the way, one of the other kids at Assembly asked me- “No really, what’s his REAL name?!”)
As always, the canoes and the people were wonderful. The Charles River canoes were spectacular, of course, and we were admonished several times for getting our years mixed up. We failed to bring some of our courting canoes from the Charles River (this year’s theme), but our two Herald double cedar canoes were extremely well received (Canadian canoes are the theme of NEXT YEAR’s Assembly!). Keuka Lake is beautiful and the canoes were beautiful on it; River and I also checked out the denizens of the deep by snorkeling, and the views of the underwater creatures were also rewarding. While learning more about wooden canes and their history is important, the real treat of Assembly was the chance to see lots of old friends and the opportunity to make new ones.
Driving through western New York, the farms of Pennsylvania, and the mountains of West Virginia on Saturday, I imagined all the canoe discussions happening on the lawn, what fascinating new finds might show up that day, and the array of canoes that must be participating in the paddle-by. As we drove into the night, we thought about camaraderie around a campfire and kids expending the last of their energy together. Assembly is so much fun that it’s difficult to leave early. With a fairly diverse array of passions, Tanya and I are anything but single-minded people. Even so, we could talk about little else but canoes, the WCHA, and the great people of the WCHA during our two days of driving home.
So thanks very much to all of the organizers and participants for a wonderful time. Thanks especially to Ken Kelly and to Dan Miller/Dick Persson for excellent talks on Charles River canoe history. And to any of you would-be participants from far away, consider a week of vacation devoted to Assembly 2008 in Peterborough, Ontario. You will not be disappointed.
Michael, Tanya, and River Grace
(by the way, one of the other kids at Assembly asked me- “No really, what’s his REAL name?!”)
