Wow...Am I a slacker....

So have you all decided to fire me from blogging or what? I can't blame you. I've been quite absent lately but not because there hasn't been anything to report. Holy Cow we've had a ton going on! I'll try to catch up on a few posts but in general, we had a great fall season and while many races were cancelled, ours was pretty much PERFECT. It was a huge success and I'll post some pictures for you all to see.

We had a small group of kids this fall but man were they great! Getting some young ones which at times can be challenging (they are full of endless energy...) but it also means that we'll have tons of time to work with them and train them to be amaaaaaaazing rowers and hopefully gain scholarships. They all get along great and seem to have a blast.

We're now underway with our winter training - started a bit earlier than last year. We've changed locations but not because the YMCA wasn't awesome. It came down to communication and making sure that we had something in place by the end of the fall. Howland Place Fitness is teaming up with us this year but the YMCA is still a wonderful ally and we'll have some folks training over there as well.

All of the equipment is packed up and being stored - not up in Boston - but in Freetown at the New Bedford Water Treatment Facility Quitticas. Charlie Kennedy, Kenny Blanchard, and many others from the City of New Bedford made it happen for us so huge thanks to you guys!! We also had trouble getting enough bodies to come down on a particular night to load all of the equipment (that trailer is TALL and those boats are HEAVY) so Mark Monteiro with the New Bedford Trial Court brought over a group of workers and even recruited some from the Fall River Trial Court. It took 2 days but they came up with bodies basically overnight and really were incredible in helping to get everything loaded up. Thanks Mark and Frank!!!

Alright - that's a brief update for now but I'll post more later, including pictures, and hopefully you'll all have me back. I've missed you!!! :)

Our first race!

Wow, it seems like time is flying by! It feels like we've just gotten started and it's already time to race. This Sunday we'll be bringing a squad of kids and adults to race in Boston at CRI's Rumble on the River. They'll have bands playing, a ParaOlympic speaker (silver medalist!), food vendors, and races for all sorts of entries. We'll be putting out a mixed 8+ and then tossing a few of the newest members in the barge race. Even parents and friends are welcome to race in the barge! I think it'll be a perfect first foray into regatta season for our new rowers and their families.

I hope the music is good.....

Another successful LTR Day!

The weather was fantastic with little wind and no rain (for a change!) on Saturday as we held our last Learn-To-Row Day. We had 16 new folks try rowing for the first time and the feedback was all positive. Tonight we start our Learn-To-Row Class that meets twice a week on Monday and Wednesday evenings for two hours and runs for 3 weeks. There's always room for more!

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!

Despite the crappy rain, we had the kids come out for their first day of Fall season. We didn't get the newbies on the water just yet, but we covered all of the paperwork and whatnot and the varsity kids did an erg workout. Tonight, it's raining yet again but we're going to try to go out with the LTR Class. Let's hope the rain dies down so they have a good practice. Tomorrow, the kids should be prepared to get wet cuz they got their one 'freebie' already!!

Fall Season

The weather outside is really making me realize that the summer is coming to an end. It's a bit chillier than it has been, and it's rainy. Not how I'd ideally like to kick off our fall season, but I'm excited for the season ahead. I hope to have lots of newbies come out so we can really attack the training. We haven't been able to get into the schools to do demos so we may be low on numbers, but that still won't stop us. Quality is always better than quantity anyway! We've got some great rowers from the summer so they'll help our 'newbies' get up to speed quickly. We only have 2 months for our whole season so that doesn't leave much time to get them race ready. Game on!

Portuguese American Police Association Scholarship Banquet

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to pass along details of the PAPA Banquet for any of you that may be interested in either attending, or possibly making a donation. One of our youth rowers' dad sent this to me so I know it's a good cause!

Hi Folks

Could you let everyone know that the Portuguese American Police Association Scholarship Banquet (PAPA banquet) will be September 24, 2011

Where: New Bedford Sports Acushnet Avenue

When: Saturday September 24, 2011

Time: Appertizers 6-7:30 Dinner 7:30

Dinner Family Style Portuguesse Soup, Salad, Pork Alentejana, Fish Fillettes, Desert, Coffee

OPEN BAR 6-10

Donation $55.00 Per Person

ANYONE NEED TICKETS PLEASE LET ME KNOW

THANKS

It's an AWESOME Time

Emanuel Maciel
New Bedford Police
Director of Animal Control
President, Animal Control
Officers Association of Mass.
871 Rockdale Avenue
New Bedford, MA02740

Well, Irene has passed

I have to say, we were very lucky here at NBCR. We were able to borrow a truck and a trailer from CRI to load up all of our boats. Tons of club members came down to help load and they brought friends, relatives, etc. and the task went really quickly. The HDC helped us out again and let us store the trailer at State Pier and not even have to unload it. It worked out perfectly!

Then Irene came through and the docks, wakeless launch, and all trees, etc. at Popes Island were in tact. The only damage I really saw was that one of the Popes Island signs came down but our 'boathouse', the docks, the marina all looked in great condition. The office had power when I got back here and Irene left very little mark on us. One of our adult rowers, David Filipek, was gracious yet again and let me borrow his brand new truck to pull the trailer back to Popes Island to unload. I almost didn't give it back! We unloaded over the course of 2 evenings and got everything down. I gotta say, our members (and many of the youth dads) are strong!! Randy at the HDC even mowed the grass inside the fence for us!

So we're back up and running and while we were very lucky and made it through Irene unscathed, many others did not. It's been hard to remember how many people have gone days without power when I have it at work, at home, and the weather has been great. But I'm sure there are plenty of people that have spent the last few days removing fallen trees and branches, and buying all the candles and flashlights they can find. I hope all of you in that position are back to normal as soon as possible!!!