Three kayak schools will be taking place (Kayak I, Eskimo Roll and Kayak II). There is an application in this newsletter for Kayak II but the other schools are filled. Canoe I & II schools will happen this month as well. Check with Jon Blake 888-2556 to see if you can still squeeze in to Canoe I and Eileen Troutman 740-392-3138 for Canoe II.

Leader training events will be scheduled. Swift water rescue should be coming up in May. First Aid & CPR should be scheduled this month or early next month. Contact John Lane if you’re a boating leader wanting this type of training.

Raft school under the tutelage of Barbie Demmy will be coming up next month. We’d like to encourage more folks to properly learn how to use our inflatables. Contact her at bdemmy (AT) hotmail.com  for more info.

Current Design sea kayaks are due next month. If you want to check out the boats we’ll by getting (Breeze, Storm, Squall and Crosswind), visit their web site at www.cdkayak.com.

Finally, the COP filmfest will be held on Saturday, April 7th from 6-10 p.m. The $5 admission covers soft drinks, sandwiches and snacks. Kids 12 & younger are free. Videos will be shown, a photo contest (submissions need to be no larger than 5" x 7") and gear swap and donation raffle will be held. Fun will be had! Check elsewhere in this newsletter for the map to the Hilliard Village Condos clubhouse. Bill Minot 777-6151 is coordinating. See you there!

When she is not working as an IT consultant, Barbie Demmy can most likely be found in the outdoors. Since her parents (COP members Steve and Sue Demmy) were both teachers, she was able to spend her summers growing up camping, hiking, boating, and traveling. They visited 48 of the 50 states before Barbie graduated from high school. She was initiated into whitewater at the age 8, voyaging down the Virgin River in Utah’s Zion National Park on an inner tube. Zion is still one of Barbie’s favorite places, second only to her grandparent’s farm in Springfield, Ohio.

Barbie’s outdoor enthusiasm has been enhanced by the opportunities she has shared with her sister, Marcie. Barbie was able to have several whitewater rafting adventures since Marcie became a guide on the New River in West Virginia in 1992. Barbie was also introduced to rock climbing on her visits to see her sister in the New River Gorge. In 1996 Marcie became an instructor for NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School). Barbie’s first raft guiding experience was on the Green River when she visited Marcie at the NOLS headquarters near Dinosaur National Park, in Utah.

Now living in Columbus, Barbie has gotten involved in more aspects of COP, including canoe and kayak schools, trip leadership training, and rock climbing. Last spring, summer,and fall she followed in her sister’s footsteps and became a raft guide. On weekends, she called West Virginia’s New and Gauley Rivers her office. This year she intends to share those experiences with COP. She is currently working with Ann Gerckens and Chris Stover to expand the inflatables part of the COP boating program. They are developing a rafting curriculum to increase our rafting trip options. Classes have been scheduled to teach trip organization and logistics, and raft guiding skills. They are hoping to get enough interest to coordinate several rafting trips on the New and the Yough Rivers this season.