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A huge "Thank you" to everyone who joined us at the Pueblo Paddler's Arkansas River Fest Saturday (May 12th) in the Pueblo Whitewater Park.Michael Palmer (looping here) took the top honors in the expert category of the rescheduled Ice Breaker Rodeo while Jeb Stogdell was the intermediate winner, and Bryan Kelsen squeaked by the tough competition in the beginner category to take the top spot. The rodeo was held in drop number 6 which has a friendly foam pile at 1000 cfs however it is a bit shallow making it a struggle to throw loops or other aerial manuvers.
This year's event got a real boost as name sponsor, UBS Financial came on board as a name sponsor.
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Several local sponsors also played a big part in the success of the event. Thank you to everyone who stepped up to make this happen.Greg Smith, owner of The Green Light Tavern, teamed up with Red Bull to provide fish tacos and energy drink during the afternoon's festivities. The tacos were a big hit and Greg's culinary creations are welcome at future Pueblo Paddlers events!
The Pueblo Paddler's kicker was, (at least in the beginning), the most popular attraction of the day.
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The structure was a first for the event. There were a few grumbles that it lacked the excitement that boaters had hoped for, but most realized that it was a feature that will improve over time as the builders will learn from this and strive to give the kicker a bit more "kick". Kicker, the sequel is scheduled to make an appearance at the July 7th Pueblo Paddle-A-Thon. So mark that date on your calendar if you'd like to come to the PWP and "Fly Pueblo" on the "New & Improved Kicker.
Another big "thank you" goes out to Alan Ward and the Pueblo Board of Water Works for coming through with the 1000 cfs of water during the Saturday event. The river above the Pueblo Dam was flowing in the 700 cfs range and the board was able to suppliment the flows by moving some of their water starting Saturday morning. The gesture was greatly appreciated!
As mentioned above, the next event on the calendar for the Pueblo Whitewater Park is the Pueblo Paddle-A-Thon to benefit First Descents. Check out this link for all the latest information.(http://pueblopaddleathon.blogspot.com)
1 comment:
I appreciate the recognition and thanks but the supplemental water that brought the flow up to 1000 cfs was not provided soley by my efforts or the Board of Water Works of Pueblo. The added flow for this and previous special events is provided by a cooperative effort between Aurora Water, Colorado Springs Utilities, City of Fountain, Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, the City of Pueblo and the Board of Water Works of Pueblo. I do a lot of the coordination between all the participants so I've sort of become the "face" of the effort, but staff from all of the above mentioned participants also play a part in enhancing the flow.
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