Last year the Lord gave me a vision of teaching kids how to enjoy God's creation right here in Paterson by learning how to paddle the Passaic River. The Passaic is a Native American name and there is still a fish wier that can be seen when the water is low. I called it River of God after Psalm 6:4 "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells." I deeply believe that God is in our city and we can experience God in creation in the city in amazing ways.
. I used the WaterTribe North Carolina Challenge to raise money for kayaks, paddles, vests. etc. My friend Jerry DeJong, one of the owners of
DeJong Iron Works up the street build this kayak trailer for us that can hold 11 kayaks. It also now has a gear box in the first middle bay. We padded the arms with closed cell foam and use 8 ft. cinch straps to hold them down. Its great. Thanks Jerry. Also Raun Leegwater of
NY/NY Trailer Supply provided materials and the whole hitch at cost. Thanks Raun.
A few weeks ago John Pangi, the owner of
Kayak East provided lessons for our boys in the Passaic Boys Club pool. John is a great instructor and very patient with the kids ( more than me). I'm taking a personal lesson with him in a few weeks and also one of his "rolling" classes in the Delware in July. Thanks John, I look forward to learning more from you.
Today we finally made it to "real water". Our goal was a short paddle on the Passaic to have fun and not tip. The water is about 55 degrees. The boys did well until a major, and I mean major, wind blew up. I even struggled to paddle against it and it just kept spinning the boys around. We pulled off for awhile, ate granola bars and talked until it died down. I was very proud of them for how they did. We also had two of our Cadet Counselors, Terry & Linzie who paddled for the first time. We paddle north from the Elmwood Park launch toward the Rt. 4/Broadway Bridge and back.
Here we are with some pre-paddling review. From left to right. Tayshawn, Tariek, Jordan, Jason & Linzie with Terry standing up.
Here we all are in front of the trailer. It was a good first day of paddling with hopes for many more.
Last year the Lord gave me a vision of teaching kids how to enjoy God's creation right here in Paterson by learning how to paddle the Passaic River. The Passaic is a Native American name and there is still a fish wier that can be seen when the water is low. I called it River of God after Psalm 6:4 "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells." I deeply believe that God is in our city and we can experience God in creation in the city in amazing ways.
. I used the WaterTribe North Carolina Challenge to raise money for kayaks, paddles, vests. etc. My friend Jerry DeJong, one of the owners of DeJong Iron Works up the street build this kayak trailer for us that can hold 11 kayaks. It also now has a gear box in the first middle bay. We padded the arms with closed cell foam and use 8 ft. cinch straps to hold them down. Its great. Thanks Jerry. Also Raun Leegwater of NY/NY Trailer Supply provided materials and the whole hitch at cost. Thanks Raun.
A few weeks ago John Pangi, the owner of Kayak East provided lessons for our boys in the Passaic Boys Club pool. John is a great instructor and very patient with the kids ( more than me). I'm taking a personal lesson with him in a few weeks and also one of his "rolling" classes in the Delware in July. Thanks John, I look forward to learning more from you.
Today we finally made it to "real water". Our goal was a short paddle on the Passaic to have fun and not tip. The water is about 55 degrees. The boys did well until a major, and I mean major, wind blew up. I even struggled to paddle against it and it just kept spinning the boys around. We pulled off for awhile, ate granola bars and talked until it died down. I was very proud of them for how they did. We also had two of our Cadet Counselors, Terry & Linzie who paddled for the first time. We paddle north from the Elmwood Park launch toward the Rt. 4/Broadway Bridge and back.
Here we are with some pre-paddling review. From left to right. Tayshawn, Tariek, Jordan, Jason & Linzie with Terry standing up.
Here we all are in front of the trailer. It was a good first day of paddling with hopes for many more. 