The first ever Paddle-a-thon was four years ago and since then it has continued to grow. More paddlers, more sponsors, more funds raised, and more awareness about the Ipswich River and its challenges. That the event has grown so much is all thanks to the many people who have supported it over the years. Without a dedicated core of volunteers, donors and corporate sponsors Paddle-a-thon would not be what it is today.
What is it today? An event which netted $50,000 for the Ipswich River, had 153 party attendees, 32 volunteers on the day, 37 Corporate Sponsors and 33 representatives from our corporate sponsors at the party. During the festivities of the Riverfest party, in the sunny Topsfield Fairgrounds Lot E field along the river, volunteer Grace Crowell interviewed a few of the event’s long-time supporters.
Supporters like fourteen year old Elizabeth Gauthier, from Beverly, who has been coming to Paddle-a-thon with her family all four years. Her favorite part is kayaking, particularly because, “We’re doing it for a good cause, to save the river and for clean water.”
Then there’s Sandy Rubchinuk, the president of the Middleton Stream Team, who “loves to support the Ipswich River Watershed Association!” For Sandy, the Ipswich River is so important because, “It goes right through our entire town, it’s our drinking water supply, it’s also a source for all the beauty and wildlife and everything.”
“ And it’s a great place to get away and have a peaceful paddle or…,” Sandy added laughing, “like today, have hundreds of kayaks!”
“It brings everybody with the same goal together,” says Sandy. “We all have the same goal of protecting our river. And if you enjoy the river and you use the river then you’ll appreciate it and if you appreciate it, then you’ll protect it.”
Grace wrapped up her interviews with Paddle-a-thon Volunteer Committee member Dan Heiter, who had just come off the water from his Long Haul Paddle. Grace asked Dan, “I don’t know if you’d heard this yet, but I think we’ve raised about $50,000.” If you know this long-time river advocate, who sports a tie-dyed lab coat while working at New England Biolabs, you’ll laugh with us at Dan’s delighted response, “Niiiiiiiiice!”
When she wasn’t interviewing participants, Grace was busy the entire event taking some truly spectacular photos (you can see more on our Paddle-a-thon page and our Facebook page.) For all her hard work at the event and beforehand, Grace won the Ripple Award, which recognizes efforts made to raise awareness for the river.
Other awards at the event included Most Money Raised, which went to Eric Brisette who held a benefit concert at the Lobster Trap Pub in Essex, raising $1300 for the river. Most Inspirational Paddler was awarded to Pike Messenger, who not only is a former Ipswich River board member, but also a founding member of the Middleton Stream Team. Pike’s love for nature and the river is infectious, in fact a new Ipswich River board member, Paul Charos, was once a student in Pike’s biology classes and fondly remembers Pike’s enthusiasm for the natural world.
The final awards were for our River Royalty, those hardy souls who persevere to win the Grand Wenham Canal Race. Dave Comb and canine friend Kip, along with Geoff and Nora Neale took home the honors!
Thank you to everyone who made this fantastic event possible. It couldn’t have happened without you!
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