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January, 2007
MaCKRO PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
I am pleased to announce that No Umbrella will host the MACKRO newsletter for 2007 and that this issue marks the first of eight issues to be published throughout the year. Each MACKRO member will receive a full years subscription to No Umbrella. Membership is defined loosely this year. Dues are entirely voluntary and we are listing as members every past and present member for which we have an address. MACKRO thanks paddling enthusiast and publishing maven Nick Callanan for agreeing to this great idea. No Umbrella has a circulation of up to 10,000 copies and the potential for a synergistic serendipity is great. The Maine canoe and kayak racing community desperately needs to build its numbers and sharing our enthusiasm and news with the outdoor community seems to be a very good idea.
Canoe and kayak racing is alive and well in New York, Michigan, Quebec and elsewhere. Record numbers are attracted to legendary racers such as The Clinton, The Ausable and La Classique. But, frankly, its nearly dead in Maine which is a great shame given our abundant paddling waters and heritage. The immediate challenge is to get more people in boats. As John Mathieu is fond of saying, "We don’t need more races, we need more racers."
Toward this end, we hope, as an organization, to promote local evening paddling workouts (akin to evening bike rides sponsored by local bike shops) in various locations throughout the state. This has taken place informally in the past. We hope that committed paddlers will invite and encourage likely candidates to participate. We would like to see paddling "cells" in Aroostook, Ellsworth, Bangor/Orono, Waterville, Skowhegan, the mid-coast and Portland. If we could, by such efforts, attract just a few more paddlers to our sport I would count it a great success and certainly a great start. To further these goals, we would like to develop a list of available used equipment, paddles, canoes and kayaks. I am sure all of us have an old boat or wooden paddle that could be loaned to a newcomer.
If you are interested in supporting such an effort in your area, please let me know. We as an organization can assist in promotion, publicity, etc.
As part of the same effort, we hope to establish informal "club races" on particular weekday evenings throughout the state where our new paddlers could experience the thrills and tactics of racing.
The whitewater schedule is listed here and we hope to have the full race schedule in the February issue. A very rough draft of the full schedule based on prior years is posted on the MACKRO website. There will be a point series in whitewater but probably not on the flat water end.
Our website continues to thrive under the guiding hand of webmaster Jim Santerre. The message board is an excellent communication tool and information source. It can be read by anyone but if you want to put up a message you must request from Jim a username and password. Please use it responsibly. This is not a place for personal attacks, offensive language or venal commercialism.
Crystal clear waters, great weather, a terrific newsletter, a full schedule, a website and a historic tradition; these are the resources that MACKRO has at hand to develop a healthy paddling community. All we need are paddlers! So please get ready to get out on the water and to bring a friend with you.
We do not have, at this time, a MACKRO newsletter editor. On short notice to meet the January deadline, I am clearing out my desk to get our first page filled. Please bear with me. For old time sake, I am including a 1985 article I wrote on the Kennebec 50 and I am also enclosing a recent poem of mine reflecting my participation in the 120 mile all night Ausable marathon this summer in Michigan. I will be soliciting ads and articles for future issues of our newsletter in No Umbrella so don’t be shy or bashful. Happy paddling!
John Alsop, President
Email nick [at] noumbrella [dot] com with your questions, comments and concerns.
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