Fun 107

Boy was I nervous this morning! Yeah, we had practice and there's a race coming up and all but that's all nothin'. I'm talking about having to be on the radio and speak! Thanks to Larissa McLaughlin for setting up a radio spot for me on Fun 107, and of course thanks to J.R., Michael Rock, and Larry for having us on. They were so great! Well, other than teasing me about how nervous I was......

Racing!!!

Yep, that's right our racing season is about to begin. Both the youth and adult competitive teams will be traveling to Lowell, MA to race in the Textile River Regatta on Sunday. The kids have entered a novice junior boys 8, and a novice junior girls 8. We're very excited for them to experience their very first taste of competitive rowing! There will be a ton of other crews in attendance at TRR as it's a popular and well-run regatta. Look for the kids wearing blue and white tie-dye!

The adults have entered a men's novice 4 (but a few of our guys can't race so we're looking for any of you that have rowed with us over the summer to possibly fill a seat?) and they should do well. The 3 guys in the boat have been working hard and they're pretty strong. On the women's side, we'll have a women's master 4 of experienced rowers and in the master category they factor in an age handicap. Yes, it's finally a GOOD thing to get older! We also have an open women's 4 that will consist of rowers that aren't over 27 (to be eligible for the master event) but have experience and thus can't race in our women's novice 8. The novices need one more person to fill out the lineup, so again, any of you that rowed with us over the summer that want to hop in and give racing a shot, let us know! All of the rowers are doing really well and this Sunday will be a very fun time.

Pat Ball is even hosting a team pasta dinner on Saturday for both the kids and the adults. YUM!

And remember - next weekend will be OUR race right here in New Bedford!

Gary Schuyler

I just want to make sure the proper thanks goes out to Gary. He's a very busy man, and yet the other day he came down to the docks with slabs of wood, power tools, and drawings for an oar rack. He single-handedly built us the wonderful wooden oar rack that we now have in the container (photos to come). That has freed up a lot of space and helped us to separate the sets of oars.

Thank you, Gary. I know how busy you are and it was a fantastic gesture on your part!

Boston Globe Article about New Bedford Harbor

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2010/09/25/in_new_bedford_one_hull_of_a_change/

Check out this article written by Sam Allis with strong contributions from our very own Laurie Bullard!!

Busy Week

It's been a pretty busy week, but a good one. We've gotten both the youth and adult competitive teams going and things improve on a daily basis. We have our new home on Popes Island mostly set and in great working order. So far the athletes seem to be having fun, and hopefully speed will soon follow!

Soon, we'll be having an organizing meeting about our Regatta on Saturday October 9th. Anyone who would like to help either before or during the regatta, we'd LOVE to have you. Just give Carolyn a call or shoot her an email: 508.717.4013, carolyn@communityrowing.org

Popes Island

This is our new home for the boats and the revamped dock! We have fencing around all of the boats now, and the HDC guys came back and totally changed the dock for us. They filled the bubbles so that they are low enough in the water for us, and they made the dock wider so we could fit easier. It was NOT easy work but they did a fantastic job!

Thank you to Kristin Decas, Debbie Yuille, and ALL of the HDC guys!!!!

Generosity

Well the good times keep on comin'. Many of you should remember Coach Will Mahoney that worked with us this summer. He did a lot for our program besides just coaching - he built our slings, he repaired boats, he painted oars. He also brought over his own personal whaler so that we could get more than one coach on the water.

Will has gone back to college (St. Lawrence University in Canada, ... er, I mean upstate New York) but his parents Tim Mahoney and Pam Donnelly came to our kickoff event on September 9th. They are just as great as Will and were very supportive of our club. They let us keep their whaler on loan through the fall season, which was a huge help to us.

But it gets even better. Will suggested to his parents that they donate their whaler to us and his parents agreed! It's people like them that are what enable us to get off the ground. Such a generous donation will have a huge impact on our programs. If you see any of them, please say thank you to them on our behalf!