Social Media Images

[Benson Gray]

Roger lived life to the fullest, but unfortunately he left us too soon.

Yes, an Instagram user requested more pictures of his canoes and I was sad to find that the only one I could locate on the web was at https://thomasjustinmemorial.com/tribute/details/830/W-Roger-Fry/obituary.html in his obituary.

Benson

 

[Benson Gray]

BIRCH BARK BEAUTY: Annie Shelby paddles one of master birch bark builder Ferdy Goode’s 17 foot Wabinaki style birch bark canoes on the Manitowish River in northern Wisconsin. A true work of art and function. Photo by Ferdy Goode. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #birchbarkcanoe #ferdygoode #beaverbarkcanoe #manitowishriver

 

[Benson Gray]

A PAIR OF BEAUTIES: Two beautiful wood canvas canoes at the 2015 Midwest Regional WCHA Assembly on Crooked Lake near Lake City, Michigan. The circa 1905-09, 16ft Gerrish in the foreground was brought to its current stunning state after a difficult two year restoration. The 1954, 15ft Old Town Fifty Pound model in the background was rescued from the wood pile and brought back to its rightful condition. It is currently restorer Chris Pearson’s go-to canoe for trips on his Michigan rivers. Photo by Chris Pearson. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #crookedlake #gerrishcanoe #oldtowncanoe

 

[Benson Gray]

END OF THE DAY: Evening on Lower Saint Regis Lake. The WCHA Assembly at Paul Smith’s College in New York’s Adirondack Park finds Alex Wilson paddling a Widgeon designed by Al Bratton of Woodstrip Watercraft, and built by Jim Wilson for his daughter. What a wonderful way to end the day. Photo by Betsy Wilson. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #woodstripwatercraft #albratton #wchaassembly #paulsmiths #adirondacks

 

[Benson Gray]

AT THE DOCK: Taking his time, Jerry Fruetel constructed the building form and this Atkinson Traveler from plans he purchased from Rollin Thurlow of Northwoods Canoe Company. It was an extended process, but well worth it. Here she is ready for a trip in northern Minnesota. Photo by Jerry Fruetel. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #atkinsontraveler #northwoodscanoe

 

[Benson Gray]

ADIRONDACK GUIDEBOAT, CIRCA. 1890: Amazingly, member Al Sienkiewicz came across an ad for this beautiful guideboat on a
bulletin board at the small community store near his camp in the southern Adirondacks of New York State. With the assistance of Dr. Stephen Sulavik, he has identified the builder as the Seeber & Parsons Company of Old Forge, NY. The photo was taken on the shore of Snowbird Lake in Forestport, NY in the fall of 2012. Photo by Al Sienkiewicz. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #seeberparsons #adirondacks #snowbirdlake

 

[Benson Gray]

LAPSTRAKES ON THE GREEN: A collection of lapstrake canoes at the 2009 Assembly, built by Geoffrey Burke, Boat Builder, of Tamworth, NH. All are built traditionally, with red oak keels, white oak steam bent ribs, grown tamarack (or hackmatack) knees for stems, grown crotches (or burls) for decks, and sheerstrake and trim in cherry or black walnut. Planking is northern white cedar. Ribs and gunwales are riveted, and plank laps are clinch nailed. Photo by Geoffrey Burke. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #chocoruaboatworks #wchaassembly

 

[Benson Gray]

LUNCH BREAK: A 17 footer built at Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum from plans for the Atkinson Traveller by Rollin Thurlow of Northwoods Canoe Company in Atkinson, Maine. Here it takes a lunch break along the Great Egg Harbor River in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens. Photo by Jim Wilson. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #atkinsontraveler #northwoodscanoe #independenceseaportmuseum #greateggharborriver

 

[Benson Gray]

AT THE PORTAGE: This was on a trip to the Quetico Wilderness in Ontario, Canada with Dave Osborn’s (Big Red) 1940s 17’ Thompson wood/canvas canoe and two of Ferdy Goode’s birch bark canoes. Photo by Ferdy Goode. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #birchbarkcanoe #ferdygoode #beaverbarkcanoe #quetico #thompsoncanoe

 

[Benson Gray]

A WELL TRAVELED CANOE: This 1976 Old Town Molitor model has traveled coast to coast. Built in Maine, she was shipped to an outfitter in California, later purchased and used on the West Coast, and then brought to Florida by its current owner, Michael Grace. She is painted with a modified version of the “Indian Design” (design number four), and was photographed on Lake Washington, one of the chain of lakes along the St. Johns River in Eastern Florida. Photo by Michael Grace. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #oldtowncanoe #lakewashington #stjohnsriver

 

[Benson Gray]

DAWN PATROL: Mike Livdahl's evocative photograph of Frank Gunness on dawn patrol at a Northwest Chapter gathering at Camp Dudley on Clear Lake. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #clearlake #islandfallscanoe #mikelivdahl

 

[Benson Gray]

QUETICO CRUISER: Another beauty built by Joe Seliga of Ely, Minnesota circa 1976. The canoe was built for a canoe guide at Camp Widgiwagan and was purchased by Robin Radcliffe in 2004. Here it sits in the shade of towering red pines beside a granite outcropping on the edge of Batchewaung Lake in the north of Quetico National Park, Ontario. Photo by Robin Radcliffe. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #seligacanoe #batchewaunglake #quetico

 

[Benson Gray]

A UNIQUE WOOD-CANVAS CANOE: This striking photograph was taken in September of 2011 at Harlow Lake, near Marquette, Michigan. The unique canoe, paddled by Scotter Schieler, is a wood and canvas canoe, but it is built in the manner of a birchbark canoe, with #6 canvas substituted for the bark. This traditional native building method predates the use of a solid form and more conventional wood-canvas canoe building techniques. Scotter is the builder, and he is proudly wearing his WCHA hat for the photo! Photo by Kim Nixon. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #scotterwoodworks #harlowlake

 

[Benson Gray]

PADDLE-BY WITH CLASS!: Bill and Dutchie Perron in their striking black 1936 Old Town OTCA, shortly before the Paddle-By at the 2009 Assembly at Keuka Lake, NY. Bill designed the fleur-de-lis on the bow, using canoe outlines for the leaves, and Dutchie painted the scene of Mt. Monadnock on the stern. Photo by Ted Michel. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #keukalake #oldtowncanoe #wchaassembly

 

[Benson Gray]

START OF THE DAY, the Northwest Chapter's 2012 fall meet at Manning Park in British Columbia featured beautiful canoes, paddling contests, presentations, and an auction. R.C. Cross restored the white J.R. Robertson. Photo by Mike Livdahl. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #manningpark #mikelivdahl #robertsoncanoe

 

[Benson Gray]

MAIDEN VOYAGE OF “WHY NOT”: It is April 26, 2013 and “Why Not” is back afloat at Beaver Pond in the Ossian State Forest of upstate New York. Owner Dan Price of Canaseraga, New York guides this 1918 Carleton around a snag on a beautiful spring day. Dan and his friend Don Coon, of Nunda, NY, restored “Why Not”, which came to them with a black painted interior and an aqua colored fiber-glassed hull. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #carletoncanoe #beaverpond

 

[Benson Gray]

MUSIC FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF CANOEING: Tom McCloud has kindly offered to present a multimedia show highlighting the fruits of some extensive research into vintage music about canoeing as a webinar starting at 7:00 PM Eastern time on Saturday, June 13th. There is no charge for this event and you can register at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4368833994099637263 now. This was first shown at the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association's Annual Assembly in July of last year. Tom will be available to answer any questions from the audience at the end of this webinar. A small sample of the music is available at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/Then-We-Canoe-dle-oodle-Along.wav if you are curious. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #canoemusic #wchaassembly

 

[pklonowski]

Tom did a nice job putting this presentation together. If you missed it at Assembly last year, you should make some effort to see this!

 

[Benson Gray]

RUTH: Ruth is a circa 1915 Peterborough Canoe Co. cedar rib canoe in near-immaculate, original condition, owned by Michael Grace and family of Melbourne, Florida. She is pictured on one of the numerous small lakes of east-central Florida, near the Kennedy Space Center. Ruth had her varnish refreshed and her brass polished in 2013, and has won many honors at boat shows around the country. Ruth’s pedigree can be traced back to the prestigious Adirondack League Club in the Central Adirondack Region of NY State. Photo by Michael Grace. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #peterboroughcanoe #adirondackleagueclub

 

[Benson Gray]

BALLET ON WATER: Freestyle paddling combines the beauty of dance with the creativity of choreography and the skill of advanced paddling! This photo was taken at the 2008 Freestyle Symposium and competition held at Camp Butler Boy Scout Camp near Peninsula, Ohio. The couple on the left are Bob and Elaine Mravatz, and on the right are Roy and Peg Ivy. Their double synchronized routine is set to music and performed with the grace and beauty of a ballet on the water. Photo by Andy Hutyera. #wcha #wchaorg #canoe #woodencanoeheritageassociation #woodencanoe #campbutler #freestylecanoeing