Billy and Carly Harris take good care of the CREW!

August 25, 2007

Hello E.J.

On behalf of the kids from the Cornwall Youth Center, the members of CReW (Cornwall Recreational Whitewater Club) and myself, thank you for giving Billy Harris and Carly (his awesome wife!) the thumbs up to come out and join us in Cornwall for our Youth Challenge Kayak program.

Billy and Carly are more than world class competitors. They are an amazing instructor team. They compliment each other perfectly and come together to make an instructional experience that was second to none for the kids of the Youth Center, our club members who took their clinics and myself.

Their skills (on and off the water), enthusiasm and personalities made the event the success that it was.

The kids from the Youth Center had a blast and so did mine. At the end of the Wednesday evening session we were able to get most of them rolling and the smiles were huge. From the biggest attitudes (Julie) to the biggest characters (Marc) they all got something good out of it.
Rolling is a huge step in their paddle experience and it comes along with leaps in self confidence and esteem.
Those are moments that are precious and I am fortunate to be able to watch these kids learn and grow.
Thanks for helping!

My last Wednesday evening session for the Youth Challenge Kayak Program is next Wednesday (August 29th). More rolling practice and some lessons in river reading and hand signals.
After that we are taking the kids to the Whitewater Park in Valleyfield on Saturday September 8th from 9 till 5.
This is what the kids have been working up to and they are all really worked up about it.

After that the summer season is over.

We are working on a plan to get these kids into the pool in Cornwall for improvement classes and Kayak Polo!
This will be very dependant on whether I can find the funding and some additional equipment to make it happen. Butt that is the goal and I have no intention of letting these kids down. I will keep you posted on the winter program.

In the mean time, thanks again for putting together such an awesome team.
Last year, in 2006, Ruth and Nick came to us under your banner and this year we were privileged to have Billy and Carly.

On a selfish note, I also learned a lot from Billy.
From working with kids, to improving my own teaching techniques. I even took one of his clinic in my new Super Star and he fixed a couple bad habits and the end result is big loops! Been practicing a lot too! Now I just need to prove it with pics! soon…..

So thanks again for your encouragement and support and your team. It means a lot to us.

Robert Zwanenburg
www.cornwallwhitewater.com

PS:
Billy left us the Shooting Star for Zach to use on our 4 day trip to the Ottawa. He loved it. It fit him sooo well and he showed us what a little guy can do when he has the right boat! The only down side for him was giving it back at the end of our trip. (Emily used it as well and thought it was great)
My wife Sylvie tried the Star and now wants a pink one of her own. I am working on finding one for her.

So thanks from Zachary (my son), Emily (my daughter), Sylvie (my wife) and I.