Greetings fellow club members, 

As we leave the tumultuous year of 2020 in our rearview mirror, a sliver of light at the end of the tunnel starts to emerge. Covid vaccines are rolling out, which brings promise of a downturn to the virus. Local small businesses will start opening up and social gatherings will once again be part of the norm, or should I say a new set of rules to the new normal will apply. As your new president, it will be a bit of a learning curve for me in particular, as I learn the ropes and become more adjusted in my newly elected position.    

First off, I’d like to personally thank the outgoing board member officers and volunteers who have served with steadfast loyalty and dedicated their time in making our club the outstanding boating club it is today:  Scott Ogren (president), who will still stay connected as the technology director; Dennis Schultz (secretary); Shakya Baldwin (membership director); and Jennifer Ogren (newsletter editor) for the past seven years. Again, thank you all! I’d like to welcome aboard Steve Herring as the new membership director, Steve Kasper as the new secretary and Matt Saucy who will be serving another two year term as training director. Thank you all for stepping up. I’d also like to thank Fred Payne who also stepped up and threw his name into the hat for the position of secretary. 

January 30th the application deadline for most of your favorite rivers that happen to be on the river lottery system is fast approaching! Open and log on to Recreation.gov (https://www.recreation.gov/ lottery/available) to view the details or enter the lottery river system. Good Luck!

For all you winter diehard boaters, and that includes me, the season has arrived. Winter boating brings a unique experience to those who like to encounter the outdoors when people are scarce unlike during the fair weather months. The heavy Northwest winter rains bring snow to the higher elevations and provide optimum river flows to streams and rivers that normally wouldn’t be boatable other seasons of the year.  I can’t stress this enough… Be safe out there! Keep tabs on the internet river flows when it’s been raining hard and be aware of river hazards such as wood problems, landslides, and rapidly rising rivers. If you become aware of, or personally experience any river obstructions or hazards, please pass it on to your fellow boaters. You can post a heads up warning using the H2Oaddicts email and OWA Facebook group to keep boaters informed regarding abnormal river conditions or problems. The PDX Kayaker Facebook group is also a great source of information where other local boaters (mainly kayakers) post potential river hazards.    

Taking a quote from Brad Paisley, “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page blank book. Write a good one.” 

May your year be full of adventure and interesting river trip stories! 

Cheers and Safe Boating!

OWA President, Scott Harvey