Upcoming Events. Morgan Shady Park, Junction, S. Llano River. Morgan Shady Park, Junction, S. Llano River

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1 Page 1 of 5 The Alamo City Rivermen Babbler Issue MMCCLXXXVII April 2009 The monthly newsletter of the Alamo City Rivermen Bubba. Paddling the fine line between geek and Club Officers May 13, 2009 Upcoming Events July 2-5, 2008 July 8, 2009 August 12, 2009 September 5-7, 2009 Morgan Shady Park, Junction, S. Llano River Monthly Meet & Greet Monthly Meet & Greet Morgan Shady Park, Junction, S. Llano River Gib Hafernick, gibguy76 at yahoo dot com Hungry Horse Rest., West Avenue, near Rhapsody. 7:00 to 9:00 Hungry Horse Rest., West Avenue, near Rhapsody. 7:00 to 9:00 Gib Hafernick, gibguy76 at yahoo dot com Nancy Burns - In Memoriam canoetx@world.std.com I just received the following from Kathy Burns Peterson: Dear Friends, Nancy Esther Burns died peaceful on Easter Sunday, with family by her side. She was born on August 24, 1931` in Rochester, New Yourk to Alfred and Esther Moxon. Her brother Al JUnior was born a year later. Nancy lived in the Rochester area and she married Bill Burns in September, They moved to Amarillo, Texas where Bill had grown up, and to Oklahoma City, where their daughter Kathy was born the following year. In 1952 the young family moved to the Canal Zone and the Republic of Panama, where Bill Junior was born in 1959, Barbari in 1961, and Jeanine in In 1973, Nancy and Bill divorced and she moved to San Antonio, Texxas with Barbara and Jeanine. Nancy lived and worked in San Antonio intil 1997, when she moved to the Fredericksburg area, where she lived at the Evergreen Villa apartments. In May 2008 Page 1 of 5 Pages

2 Page 2 of 5 Nancy was diagnosed with cancer and in November she moved to the Fredericksbury Nursing Center, where she received dedicated and compassionate care with support form the HIll Country Memorial Hospice Program. Nancy is survived by her four children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren, as well as her brother Al and his family. She also leaves numerous friends and penpals from her many interests == she was a dedicated river paddler and hiking enthusiasat, and throught the years she was a member of the Texas River Protection Association, Alamo City Rivermen, HIll Country Red Hat Society, Sierra Club, Sweet Adelines, Audubon Society, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Austin, as well as theater groups, church missions and bottle digging clubs in the Republic of Panama. A Celebration of LIfe gathering is planned for May 24. Donations and memorials can be sent to the Texas River Protection Association, 444 Pecan Park Drive, San Marcos, Texas 78666; or the HIll Country Memorial Hospice Program, PO Box 835, Fredericksburg, Texas 78666, or the charity of your choice. The Celebration of LIfe party will be Sunday, May 24 in San Marcos at the river. We're hoping you'll be able to come to share some "Mom Stories" with her family. Pleas RSVP to let me know, so I can send additional information, plus have enough food for all of Mom's friends! Kathy Burns Peterson on behalf of the Burns family jpeterso49@aol.com or David Reichert San Antonio Memories of Nancy Burns The last time Nancy Burns and I paddled together was on a day trip in October 2002, the year of the big floods. We were in our solo boats on the Medina, which was pushing 1,000 cfs. The plan was to run 13 miles from Bandera to English Crossing but Nancy flipped 100 yards downstream from the put-in and I said we should get out and go home. Nancy wouldn t hear of it. We pressed on another mile to the low water bridge that lies at the end of a tight dogleg. From the safety of the bridge we watched the water swirling around an uprooted tree that blocked our passage downstream. I told Nancy I could walk back to the put-in, bring the truck to the bridge and we could call it a day. Nope, she wanted to continue. Forty-five minutes later she had figured out a way to line our boats past the downed tree. She just wouldn t give up. The remainder of the trip was wonderful, thanks to Nancy. She was one of the first people I met when I joined the Alamo City Rivermen in the mid-1990s. Members of the club told me she was a legend among paddlers in Texas, so the first time I joined her for a group day trip down the Guadalupe I was a bit intimidated. When she saw my little 13-foot Mohawk all she said was, That thing doesn t have much freeboard, meaning, I ll bet we spend a lot of time fishing your sorry ass out of the water today. I didn t take a swim and we eventually became good friends. Beginning in the late 1990s, Nancy and I paddled tandem several times on the two annual ACR trips down the Colorado the Turkey Trot in November, and the Freeze Trip in January. In all my years canoeing, Nancy was the only tandem paddler with whom I felt totally at ease. We spent so much time together we worked in near perfect sync on the river. Some people said Nancy was too assertive in a canoe, but that was her way. Once you accepted the idea she was the captain of the ship everything would go just fine. Page 2 of 5 Pages

3 Page 3 of 5 I ll miss her. David Plylar sunriseatcotulla@yahoo.com Memories of Nancy Burns When my husband Kevin Longin and I moved to Texas and decided to start paddling in 1999, we began be attending boat demos in the region. We ended up at one in Kerrville, where we ran into Nancy for the first time. She gave us a very positive description of the Alamo City Rivermen club, encouraged us to join, and gave us her personal card, as well as one for the club in case we had questions. Because of her enthusiasm and obvious joy of paddling, we joined the Rivermen shortly afterward. She led the Rivermen as the first female president, encouraged me to become second one, which I did from 2003 thru 2005, and I continue on as Vice President of the club today. She had a great impact on my involvement in the paddling community. Nancy has been a very influential member of the Alamo City Rivermen as well as the paddling community here in general. She will be remembered by many. Kathy Cusick Vice President Alamo City Rivermen Caddo Lake Trip Report By John Carlson at Goat Island campsite Page 3 of 5 Pages

4 Page 4 of 5 Ken Bennight Caddo Lake was beautiful, and the weather was great. The only problem is that the introduced aquatic vegetation is even worse than when I was last there in In not too long, it will likely be impossible to navigate, even by paddle craft, any where but the maintained trails, and the maintenance expense will probably limit those. The trip back Sunday was eventful. The cross winds were extremely high, and the canoe rack on the cab of my truck gave way, causing the front of the canoe to hit the ground. We had been traveling at about 70 MPH. It's a miracle so little damage was done. John, fighting his way through vegetation. The second canoe belonging to John Carlson had not quite gotten loose yet, though it was close. We got out of the truck, and John was trying to control the canoe in the wind, while I was untying it. When I got it untied, the wind pushed the canoe so hard that it knocked John down, landing on top of him. Fortunately he was OK. With the cab rack ruined, it took it quite a while for us to figure out how to carry the canoes. The bed of my truck is six feet long, and my canoe is 17 feet long. I have often thought it impossible to carry the canoe without a rack, but what is possible varies with what is required. We got something jury rigged, but I would not want to try it again. We drove quite slowly, and stayed off the interstate until it was impractical to avoid. All things considered, it could have been much worse. My canoe has been damaged more seriously in rapids. I'll be able to hammer out the dent with a rubber mallet. It will just add to the hull's accummulated character. The enclosed pictures of the truck were taken after I got home, so John's canoe had already been off-loaded. Page 4 of 5 Pages

5 Page 5 of 5 I think his canoe actually helped to stabilize mine. Mine bounced more after I dropped him off, so I drove even more slowly and stuck to surface streets going home from his house. Ken Bennight Page 5 of 5 Pages