Erwin Great Outdoors Festival Recap

The Jackson Action Wagon teamed up with USA Raft and the Nolichucky Outdoor Learning Institute to host a very BUSY and successful pool demo on “May The Fourth Be With You” in downtown Erwin, TN.

We opened the pool about 10:00 AM and a line formed shortly after that with a steady stream of soon to be eager paddlers. The SUP and kayak demos in the USA Raft #MEGADemoPool (40’x70′ inflatable pool) was a huge hit for the crowd! Over a hundred kids and some adults got to take their first ever paddle strokes during this festival and a plethora of smiles resulted!

We were blessed with a warm spring May Saturday for folks to enjoy our pool activities. The festival was well attended throughout the morning to mid-afternoon with the good weather. However, like any typical East Tennessee day the weather can change in an instant and that it did about 3:30 PM. A violent thunderstorm blew in with not much warning and we evacuated the pool. We had to scramble to secure and break down our booths before our canopies blew away from the strong gusts of wind with the storm.

The quick change in atmospheric pressure and temperature drop from the storm also caused our inflated pool to loose pressure in the side walls and it began to collapse. In an effort to keep the +20,000 gallons of water from spilling all at once and flooding Main Street we attempted to drain the pool in a controlled fashion into an adjacent storm drain. Let’s just say that the attempt escalated quickly and we only lost about a half trailer load of landscaping mulch… It mad the event memorable for sure!

Overall the festival was a good time with a great group from our paddling community sharing the sport that we love with our outdoor community all the while celebrating Star Wars Day too! #maythe4thbewithyou