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In 10-Mile Race on Sandy River, Moms Win

May 16, 2011 - Farmington — Lydia Wade had a few doubts about her Mother’s Day gift this year.

Instead of getting some roses and chocolates, the 61-year-old mother from Winslow was competing in a 10-mile kayak and canoe race down the Sandy River in Strong.

“I foolishly said yes before knowing a lot about what I was getting in to,” Wade said, waiting along the riverbank with her daughter, Susan, of Augusta.

“I haven’t gotten over the fact that she mentioned there was a drop,” Wade said, tugging at her life vest and glancing at the water rushing by below.

Susan Wade, 34, teased her mother, who prefers kayaking on “peaceful lakes,” that she had a back-up gift waiting at the finish line.

“I got her this present and a combo Mother’s Day and get-well card just in case this doesn’t go well,” Susan said, getting a smile from mom.

Plenty of moms found themselves among the 36 people paddling Sunday afternoon in the Mother’s Day race, sponsored by the Mainely Outdoors program at the University of Maine at Farmington Fitness and Recreation Center.

The center’s director Jim Toner said the race highlights the program’s goal to give people chances to enjoy Maine’s outdoor activities.

“We’re offering outdoor recreation events to encourage people to get active,” Toner said.

It’s also a way for UMF students to gain experience for an outdoor-recreation business administration major that the college added this year, according to Toner.

Students help run the Mainely Outdoors events and bring the leadership and organizational skills they learn back to the classroom, he said.

Kelly Greene, a UMF junior, said figuring out people’s reasons for avoiding outdoor activities is a challenge.

“The biggest hurdles for people are a lack of interest, a lack of motivation and lack of knowledge,” she said.

Seeing people overcome fears and try new activities is the best way to find ways to build up Maine’s eco-tourism industry, according to Greene, 20, of Farmington.

Greene hopes to work in community health and recreation after graduating with the degree that ties together skills in business, health and recreational tourism, she said.

Sunday’s race covered an easier section of Sandy River. It reached Class 2 rapids, described as easy with small waves and clear channels, and was well short of the most difficult Class 5 rapids, according to the whitewater classification system.

Farmington mother Lisa Lisius asked her family to make the race her special gift Sunday.

“I couldn’t think of a better thing to do on Mother’s Day,” she said.

The Sandy River runs through the family’s backyard and they spend a lot of time on the water, according to Lisius, 50.

“We love canoes,” she said.

The event Sunday was also special for Lisius and her husband, Jim, because it was the first canoe race with their 11-year-old daughter, whose name is River after the couple’s love of the water, she said.

The outdoor program charges small registration fees for its events, according to Toner, and the money goes directly to supplies for the day. It cost $10 to race Sunday, with mothers and UMF students paying $5.

For more information on program events, Toner said to visit the center’s website at frc.umf.maine.edu/, or to call 778-7495.

Lori Burgess sent her husband and son on the trip for one of her Mother’s Day gifts, which started out early Sunday with breakfast and family photos after they rented the canoe in Rangeley.

“I just like to see them doing things together,” she said of the father and son canoe team.
Burgess and her twin 10-year-old daughters, Genevieve and Skyela, happily chose to cheer them on from the river bank, she said.

Her husband, Cuz, and 16-year-old son, Layne, agreed, however, that she may have had another reason for signing them up for the race.

“Happy Mother’s Day; you get to throw us in a boat and send us down the river,” Cuz said.


David Robinson, Morning Sentinel, May 2011


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