Leadership Recognition
Sharon Hsu
She has been extremely active in introducing people to white water and quiet water kayaking. Sharon has been running the Kayak schools for the past 2 years, and she holds 1 day clinics on local rivers to introduce people to kayaking. Last year, she ran 3 kayak schools and 3 major trips - even when warned of burnout possibilities. She volunteered as a raft guide for Family White Water Weekend. She is an effective administrator of schools, and I would nominate her for the board - except she is too effective in her current role. Sharon is a major reason the kayaking program has experienced a renaissance, and why the boating program has been making money. She even convinced me to cook for kayak school this year.
The View from the Rear
by Keith Finn
Like most everyone else, I was numbed and horrified by the events of September 11. Anger came later, along with sorrow for everyone who died and will die as a consequence of these events.
Some the deeper effects of that day have surprised me, and how I feel about this country. A group of friends had been planning a raft trip/birthday celebration for several weeks, due to be celebrated on Sept 15 & 16 in Pennsylvania. One of the party organizers called me to see if we should cancel the event. She was feeling a gamut of emotions, including fear of travel, was it appropriate to celebrate in the midst of sorrow, what if more attacks were planned, and that she just felt uncertain of the future. After listening to her, it allowed some feelings / emotions / intuition to crystallize within me. This was what the terrorists wanted. When the terror attacks make you sit at home in fear, they have achieved their objective. When we demand from our government - "protect me at any cost", they have achieved their objective. Is it egocentric to believe some cretinous vermin drove a plane into a skyscraper to make me stay at home for a weekend? Not if 200 million other people believe the same thing!
These terrorists are like vermin alone they cannot destroy America, but they can make Americans to do self-destructive things to feel safe. When we can go on with our lives, we spit in the eye of the evil that these vermin wish to spread. Please, take that bike ride, canoe the river, climb the rock and hike the trail without guilt without fear, without terror.