Want to canoe the Sauk River, now you can!
FRIENDS OF THE SAUK RIVER ANNOUNCE START OF FREE CANOE
Starting last fall with an idea from Membership Director Todd Foster, the Friends of the Sauk River started to raise money for a “canoe library”. This library would provide all the gear needed for community members to paddle along the Sauk River for free. Foster spent all winter raising the money needed and was able to secure national grants from The North Face Company, The Coleman Company as well as local donations from the Centracare Foundation and the St. Cloud Noon Optimists. Foster said this idea was originally born when he and Scott Miller paddled from St. Cloud MN, to Hudson Bay in 2005. Foster said that he was constantly amazed at how nice people where along the journey and that it inspired him to give something back to the community, in this case an opportunity to paddle.
The Canoe Library will allow all community members to use Canoes, Paddles, Personal Floatation Devices and other equipment, that they may not otherwise have access to, so that they may enjoy the beauty of paddling along the Sauk River. The Canoe Library will serve all community members with a special emphasis on youth. One of the big barriers to getting youth outdoors is access to quality equipment and the Canoe Library will break down this barrier. This will be the first program of its kind, and will get hundreds of central Minnesota youth outdoors and exploring each paddling season.
All of the gear has been purchased and with water levels becoming safe, the Friends of the Sauk River are excited to start loaning out the gear. If you are interested in checking out the gear you need to sign a waiver saying you understand the risks of river travel, and that should you break or damage any gear you will pay for it. That’s it. Currently there is not a shuttle available but the Friends of the Sauk River will provide car top carriers so that you can shuttle on your own.
The Friends of the Sauk River currently have six canoes to loan out so if you are part of a group (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Church Groups, etc) you will have room for up to 18 people. The Friends also have a trailer to make transporting easy if you check out multiple canoes.
The Friends of the Sauk River Canoe Library is available now. Contact Membership Coordinator Todd Foster at[email protected] if you would like to reserve your spot, need more information, or to help provide support.
To learn more about The Friends of the Sauk River and The Canoe Library visit http://www.paddlethesauk.com/how-can-i-paddle.html
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 at 10:37 am and is filed underUncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.