1st Annual Make A Wave Paddleboard Competition Raises over $1,000 towards the planning & design of a multi-purpose bike path.
Press Release: 7/30/2017
Photos: Chandler Burgess
First Stop Board Barn hosted their first annual Make A Wave benefit paddleboard race this past Saturday, August 26th. The highly anticipated race was held at Woodward Reservoir off the Farm and Wilderness camp beach. The goal of the charity event was to raise money for the development of a multi-purpose bike path that would connect surrounding towns such as Ludlow, Bridgewater, Woodstock, and Killington.
The event was considered a success with over 20 eager paddleboard racers in attendance. Racers of all ages came out to support a new local cause that everyone could benefit from. Registration took place from 9-10am with the official adult category race kicking off at 11am sharp.
A Vermont-Style race started at the sound of the cowbell, 20 ambitious adults paddled forward, making waves as they charged for the mile-long course. The energy was buzzing as the adult category made their way down the reservoir. A minute after, the children’s category launched off the beach, and into the water to race against each other, and maybe even try to catch up to the adults.
Coming in with the fastest time of the day, Karen Dalury of Killington Yoga won the event overall. Dalury’s time was an astounding 12:28:74 as she raced through the finish line back at the beach. Coming in with a close second place was Nick Johnson with a time of 13:44:44. Third place was taken by Tao Smith, Head of School at the Killington Mountain School, with a time of 13:48:47.
After the race, awards were given to the top 5 participants. The after party, hosted at First Stop Board Barn, headlined Nick Bredice for live music and a blazin’ BBQ sponsored by Hinterland Farm with fresh Misty Knoll chicken, homemade salads from Drewskis On The River, lemonade, and homemade ice cream from the Mountain Creamery. A 50/50 Raffle along with some great silent auction items donated by Sugarbush Soaring, Killington Resort, ATV Vermont, Shackleton Thomas, Ramunto’s Brick & Brew Pizza of Bridgewater, Goodro Lumber, Mountain Cuts Salon, Killington Yoga and more were popular, and greatly supported the cause!
First Stop Board Barn would like to thank everyone who came out to support the cause, and to all of the sponsors who donated to the silent auction. The shop was able to raise over $1000 which will go to the planning and development of a multi-purpose bike path. First Stop Board Barn’s Randy Elles’ vision for a safer, family friendly bike route came to be while he was living in New York City. He noticed that multi-purpose bike paths were an integral part of roadway safety, and lead to a symbiotic relationship between vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians. Elles has also seen multi-purpose pathways inject new life and energy into small towns and areas that were once neglected and run down thanks to a boost in recreational tourism. Elles believes it would be amazing to eventually connect the towns of Killington, Bridgewater, Plymouth, Ludlow, Woodstock, Quechee, and beyond and that a path of this sort could help towns prosper for generations to come.
We’ll see you next year.
#makeawave #letsbuildabikepath