Presidents Corner
September
By Scott Harvey
Greetings Fellow Club Members,
This is the time of year when the transformation from summer to fall changes rapidly. Dealing with excessively hot and smoky conditions of the summer months to the cooler, crisp and damp weather patterns of fall. The rapidly depleting daylight, the hue of the sun contrasting with the changing foliage colors, the crispness in the air mixed with the aroma of the changing season, makes this time of the year one of my favorites. Unfortunately, it’s only short lived, until the trap door of winter sets in.
We have our annual Wilderness First Aid course quickly approaching for the first weekend of October. This fast paced and informative class will be held October 5th and 6th at the group campsite #1 in Oxbow Regional Park along the Sandy River. There’s still room available for this two-day training if you’re interested. The cost of this instruction is only $70, highly subsidized by the OWA. Thanks to the funds raised during our annual spring safety auction. Class includes CPR First Aid Certification (valid for 2 years) and a 16-hour Wilderness First Aid certification (valid for 3 years).
There’s a write-up under Special Features in this month’s newsletter titled “Safety Whistle Etiquette For Water Rescue” I’ve read and seen articles on social media where there have been river trips where individuals have excessively abused the standards of whistle communication protocol on the river during rescues. It’s not been much of a problem here in the Northwest as it has been in other river systems of the U.S.
Our October club meeting for October 9th will be at Flying Pie Pizzeria. Located on Stark Street in Portland. The guest speaker will be Professor Scott Burns, Professor of Geology at Portland State University. He has a wealth of knowledge and a charismatic way of presenting his information to those attending. He’ll be covering the Northwest Geology and Volcanic activities that has dramatically changed the landscape and rivers of the Northwest.
We have several board positions coming open at the end of the year in December: The OWA President, Membership Director and Secretary positions will be opening up because of term limits. If you have any interest to be involved and volunteer and with running this great club of ours, please reach out to me or another Board Member if you have any questions.
Cheers and Safe Boating,
Scott Harvey, OWA President