Paddles Up Niagara, Round 2, this Saturday

Story and photo by Karen Keefe
Grand Island Dispatch, July 27, 2007

Niagara River Greenway Commissioner Paul Leuchner kayaks within
the East River Restoration Project, part of the water trail for Saturday’s
recreational event, Paddles Up Niagara at Beaver Island State Park.

The second annual “Paddles Up Niagara” is generating “great enthusiasm,” said Rob Belue, executive director of the Niagara River Greenway Commission, which runs the event. “It’s a nice way to spend the day, and hopefully the weather holds out,” he said.

This Saturday’s recreational 4.6-mile paddle for kayaks and canoes will take place on the Niagara River at the southern tip of Grand Island, right in Beaver Island State Park.

There is no entry fee for paddle participants. Among the rules, you must wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device (life jacket), and your craft must be checked to ensure that it can safely make the trip. If you don’t have a kayak or canoe, you can rent one in advance. But there won’t be any available for rent on site at the park.

Non-competitive Fun

The theme is non-competitive and fun. Organizers extend an invitation for people to enjoy the waterway and its beautiful sights and sounds, including wetlands, wildlife and even a heron rookery. It’s not necessarily an event just for the serious kayaker or canoe enthusiast – although they are welcome, too.

“We wanted to get people out on the river to enjoy it. We didn’t want them to be just dead tired when they got to the end of the line – and crawl into their cars and disappear,” said Greenway Commissioner and kayaker Paul Leuchner. “We wanted to make it an enjoyable experience. We don’t want to put any pressure on people to get it done in a certain amount of time.” He calls it green recreation. “It’s very cost effective and it’s a lot of fun.”

The event starts at the foot of the sledding hill near Little Beaver Island. Turn right as you enter the park, and you’ll see the colorful array of kayaks and canoes, and the happy campers ready to set out on the trip.

Learn, Launch and Lunch

The day is full of action:

•The schedule starts at 8:30 a.m. with the Paddle Fair, full of product demos and demonstrations or technique and safety. You can learn to paddle from the state parks’ interpretive staff – and more. Leuchner said organizers are calling one part of the fair, “The Unique Taste of Beaver Island.” Eastern Mountain Sports will be offering free samples of freeze-dried camp food that they sell, and they’ll even add the water. They and other companies will also display kayaks, tents and other supplies and equipment used for backwoods kayaking. There will be goodie bags for participants, and even a visit from the Red Bull girls.

•A Native American Departure Ceremony takes place at noon. The phrase “paddles up” is derived from a long-standing Native American custom. When approaching a camp, canoe paddles were pointed skyward, signifying that the traveler comes in peace and is seeking permission to land for food and rest. In some cultures, the upward-pointed paddle also symbolizes the start of a long journey, Greenway commissioners explain.

•From 12:15 to 12:30 p.m., it’s the launching of kayaks and canoes.

•At 2:15 p.m., there is a picnic lunch and fund-raiser and tour of the historic River Lea site, sponsored by the Grand Island Historical Society. The donation is $10, and registration is required in advance. The setting brings a cultural aspect to the event, as well as satisfying the appetites earned on the water trail.

As of Tuesday, 107 people had registered for the recreational river run. That’s higher than the number registered by this time a year ago, Belue said. There were 146 participants last year, ranging in age from 8 to over 80 years old. Registrations will be accepted right up to the morning of the event.

National Attention

The Greenway Commission was so pleased by the turnout last year that the decision to forge ahead with another edition was easy. They advertised in national sporting publications and got the word out to kayak and canoe clubs in both the United States and Canada. Already, participants from Ohio and Massachusetts have signed up, as well as a number of Western New Yorkers. A large contingent of Canadians and folks from the Adirondack Mountain Club are expected, also.

“We actually had people ask, this year, ‘When are you going to do an Island-round type of event?’ ”Belue said. Greenway commissioners have talked about doing just that in the future, once they “get their legs wet” on the shorter, more relaxed course of the Paddles Up. They envision, eventually, a two-stage event: a 24-mile competitive or endurance course around the Island in the morning, and the non-competitive “fun paddle” for the less ambitious, in the afternoon. A New York state marathon canoe association is interested in helping stage such an event on Grand Island.

“We’re looking to expand as we go, and make bigger and different improvements,” Belue said.

New Route Safe and Scenic

The route is different this year, focusing on the southern tip of Beaver Island State Park, rather than going north from the park along the West River. This was done to make the trip safer and more scenic, said Leuchner.

“We had a lot of problems with wind … it was kind of exposed,” he said of last year’s course. As he speaks, he is sitting in the red kayak he’ll use to navigate the course on Saturday. “Besides the safety issue, we wanted to give them a better look at what scenic diversity we have on the river here,” he added. “In this particular course, we have beaches, woodlands, riperian habitat, as we call it, or riverside habitat, and wetlands, and some of the open-water areas.”

Leuchner said it was also a goal for organizers to include within the course a project Greenway members are proud of, but that few Grand Islanders even know about – the East River Restoration Project. This is located off the end of Ferry Road, near Blue Water Marina and the Beaver Island Golf Course maintenance building. Here, marshlands and habitat for native flora and fauna have been reclaimed with the construction of a weir, or horseshoe-shaped rock wall, with docks jutting into the crescent. The effect is to quiet the waters, sheltering the area from disruptive wakes of motorboats and jet skis. Species of water lilies are blooming now, and the fish population is having a resurgence.

As well as being an environmental turn-around, the restoration project is the turn-around point for Saturday’s paddlers. They’ll check in, be accounted for and collect their free bottle of water before heading back to Little Beaver Island.

“Our goal is to just show people here in Western New York what the ease of access is to the river,” Belue said. “Just get out and enjoy the water.”

For more information, and event registration forms, visit www.niagaragreenway.org, or call 773-5361.

Don’t have a kayak or canoe?

If you don’t have a kayak or canoe you can still enjoy Paddles Up 2007. Although no rental kayaks or canoes will be available at Beaver Island State Park, they can be obtained from a number of local sources in the Western New York area. Here are a few of them:

•Eastern Mountain Sports Inc., 1270 Niagara Falls Blvd., Tonawanda. For more information, call 838-4200.

•Eastern Mountain Sports, 3540 McKinley Pkwy., Blasdell. Call 824-1817.

•Paths, Peaks and Paddles, 1000 Ellicott Creek Road, Tonawanda. Call 213-0350.

•Niagara Paddle Shack Inc. Outfitters, 940 River Road (18F),Youngstown. Call: 807-9852.