Paddle the Border Runs Its 23rd Yearly Float
By Bernie Marvin
This boater who is about to conclude his four-hour ride down the Connecticut River during last weekend’s Paddle the Border event, received a rousing welcome to the Bugbee Landing in Bradford by these two energetic youngsters who waved boaters home with select long-stemmed weeds. The Bridge Weekly/Bernie Marvin
Assisting paddlers at the end of this fall’s Paddle the Border event, boaters had plenty of good help exiting their boats and carrying them to their vehicles by, left to right, Brad Barlow, the two boating occupants that included a dog, Darren Sherburne and Event Coordinator Mike Thomas. The Bridge Weekly/Bernie Marvin
Providing their soothing music to boaters at the conclusion of their long paddles down the Connecticut River from the Newbury Landing, Sue and Don Picknell strum their music, something they have been doing at the event for many years. The Bridge Weekly/Bernie Marvin
They paddled to the Bugbee Landing just north of the Bradford Golf Club in good stead, considering there was, at times, a slight chop to the surface of the mighty Connecticut River as she wound her way from the North Country to the New York outlet into the Atlantic Ocean so many miles away.
In these parts, the river was running smoothly to the south, and after passing event leader Mike Thomas’s safety assessment, the paddlers for this fall’s Paddle the Border program, he said “It is a go,” and so the 23 annual fun day for paddlers in canoes and kayaks was off and floating down the river.
This year included 67 total boats, which is now about average for the event. This according to Mike Thomas himself, as he stood boot deep in the Wait’s River that feeds out of the Connecticut and allows paddlers to come in off the Connecticut a short way to Bugbee, where the Paddle the Border route ended.
He said there were more canoes in the water this year, than kayaks or other floating craft.. In the early days of Paddle the Border program, the numbers of boats were far less than the present 67. He said it is a popular program on the river now, with 70 or more boats coming out for the fun cruise, food and music. One person this year brought their cat for the cruise.
A nice easy end to the trip where boaters can look forward to some extraordinary food choices and refreshments. Mike reported that there has been some assistance offered by several groups in Bradford and it made for a happy ending to four or so hours on the river from whence it all began, at the Newbury Landing.
Mike said the Connecticut River Conservancy and the Bradford Parks and Recreation had set up their displays and information at the landing. Also the Jazzy’s Children Fund had set up their information there, as well.
The Jazzy Children’s Fund mission is to fulfill Jasmine Paye’s dream by raising money to assist families of sick children or those who have life-threatening sickness or injuries. Since November, 2013, this fund has raised and given more than $300,000.00 for families in need.
There is a Spring Paddle the Border as well, this one beginning in Woodsville and terminating at the Bedell Bridge State Park which is on the other side of the river from the Newbury Landing and down river a bit.
On a small grassy mound on the side of the landing area, Sue and Don Picknell of Pike with a banjo and guitar entertained the ctowd as thry began to trickle in from the nearby Waits River, completing another Paddle the Border event.