Good Night Irene

Who says New Bedford isn't exciting?! Crazy talk...it's plenty exciting here as we prepare for Hurricane Irene to pay us a visit. The last hurricane (Earl) ended up to actually be quite a nice weekend, but I'm thinking Irene may not be so nice.

No worries though. We've got lots of friends to help us out. CRI is going to loan us a truck and trailer to load up all of our equipment and the city is working on a place for us to stash everything while we wait out the storm. We've got lots of strong members so we'll load everything up, wait it out, and then back to business as usual.

We're gonna be ready for you, Irene!!!

BIG Day on Sunday!

Many many thanks go out to our awesome volunteers as we had our largest group of Learn-To-Row newbies come through Popes Island this past Sunday. We had 2 boats running for several hours and kids of all ages along with adults hopped into the boats and gave it a whirl. As the day went on, the winds picked up but our coxswains did a fantastic job steering the boats, and our experienced rowers worked hard to keep the boats on track.

AT&T was on hand again handing out ice cold water, and thankfully, when my phone got soaked with water, Curt Boardman was there to help me bring it back to life. Gotta love those AT&T guys! Ricky Rosario also hopped in the boat to try rowing, and Curt came in the launch with me to keep an eye on the boats. Curt's becoming a mini coach!

We also had fresh coffee and donuts thanks to the Dunkin Donuts at 150 S. Main St. in Acushnet. Mmmm, those were delicious!! Er, I mean, I hear they were.....

Our rowers were truly awesome as we were definitely busy all day long. It was go-go-go but everyone that came through had a really good time and several of the adults signed up for the Learn-to-Row Class that started on Monday. We had a fun time going over safety, equipment, and hopping on the ergs on Monday. They asked some great questions and we did quite a bit of work in just one day! I look forward to seeing them again tonight!

Learn-To-Row this Sunday!

It's that time again! Yes, we have another Learn-To-Row Day coming up THIS Sunday, August 21st. AT&T will be on hand again with ice cold water, and hopefully we'll have Dunkin Donuts there as well. Register online for your slot (we schedule in groups of 4 so register in order to get a slot). Ages 12 and up are welcome and even if you don't want to row, come check it out! Popes Island in New Bedford. See you there!

More pictures from AHA Night!

Bird Island Challenge

While you may have heard about the Bird Island Challenge, you may not be aware that NBCR also participated. No, we weren't in kayaks as you'd expect. We put out a mixed 8 with half adult rowers, half youth rowers. It was quite an adventure launching such a long boat at a normal boat ramp and several of our rowers ended up waist high in water but not a single one complained and they all went out there with determination.

We even won a plaque to go in our future boathouse and the rowers all got gold plated scallop shells for medals!

More Images from the Oyster & Wine Tasting

First of (hopefully many to come) Oyster & Wine Tasting!

On Friday evening on August 12th, 2011, New Bedford Community Rowing hosted it's first Oyster & Wine Tasting event at Tabor Academy's Fireman's Center. It was a lovely evening with great company, great food and wine, and lots of activity. We had a bar set up with 4 different types of wines that Martignetti's paired with our four different types of oysters (which were DELICIOUS, by the way). For those that aren't into oysters or wine, no fear - we had beer and non-alcoholic beverages as well as lots of little bites prepared by Pat Ball and Maria Pereira. We even had a couple of our youth athletes walking around with the bites (ever so cleverly displayed on a rowing seat) and mingling with the guests, including several of our adult rowers.

To make everyone relaxed and enjoy the evening, our very own Rachel Eisenhaure, a local Assistant District Attorney, was on hand playing live music. Not on a piano, not with a guitar - no, she played the harp!! And it was beautiful to not only listen to but also look at. She's an amazing, talented woman!

As if milling about with the other guests eating, drinking, and listening to music weren't enough, we also had 20 silent auction items on display, ready for bidding. Every item was bid on and we had many happy winners at the end of the night. Thank you to all that donated an item, and to those that bid on each item! There were a few hotly contested items but luckily no rower was harmed in the process...

To top off the night, we brought our two new (to us) fours for a christening/dedication. Through a donation by Walter Chang and his family (Ling Ling, Chris, Sharlene, and Darren) we were able to purchase two used fours for New Bedford Community Rowing this spring. One boat, a 'bowloaded' Filippi, already had a name. It's bad luck to rename a boat so we dedicated it to The Chang Family. The other boat, a Dirigo, while older had never been named. At the suggestion of Walter himself, we christened the boat "Integrity".

It was a very fun event in a beautiful location and we plan to host it again next year. I hope many of you can join us! Eventually, we'll have to host it at our very own boathouse that's not too far off in the future! Thank you to the organizing committee of Martha Maguire, Anne Eisenmenger, Margaret Ishihara, and Pat Lester for all of the amazing work they put into making this a top notch event!