This summer the Lake Thunderbird BoatHouse presented two kid camps for
sailing on June 15-20 and July 21-26. Both camps had 12 children between
the ages of 9-13. These camps are conducted according to the US Sailing
Association's Sailing Smart, small boat and sailing program for youths.
The course begins with canoeing, kayaking, and rowing. They begin sailing
on the third day. The course also has a didactic presentation with exam
over Boating Basics, the boating safety publication of Outdoor Empire Publishing,
Inc. This is the third year that we have presented these camps and their
popularity seems to be growing.
SHOOTING THE "SEADOO RAPIDS"
A special thanks to Lake Patrolman Tony Nelson presented a boat safety program.
This year we added two exciting items to the class. During the last year we purchased 6 Vanguard prams to add to our 6 Optimist prams. This was the first year we were able to use prams in the class for all children of that size and they have proved to be excellent boats for all the children, not just the smaller ones as we expected. They are so stable that any child that was having trouble with the larger boats could master the Optis.
The second addition was scholarships. Finally, we are very pleased to report a grant funded by Cincom Systems, Inc. and its CEO, Mr. Tom Nies of Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Nies' interest in children's programs has provided the LTEF and the Lake Thunderbird BoatHouse two gifts. The first is a $700 scholarship grant for disadvantaged kids. There were three scholarship kids in the secaond camp. The second gift of $800 has allowed us to purchase 138 copies of a wonderful book by Richard Bode; "First you have to row a little boat." This wonderful book helps define his sailing experiences as metaphors of life. Each child attending our programs will be provided a copy of this wonderful book. We thank Mr. Nies and Cincom Systems, Inc. for their wonderful gifts!