On the evening of Tuesday, December 12th, 2000, a group of hearty rowers in Portland, Oregon embarked on the first (maybe annual) Holiday Rowing Excursion. In the attached photos, you see how we decorated Rowing Associaton of Portland's rowing barge they purchased from Stillwater (cheap plug, I know) with a shining 3 foot tall Snowman on the bow and a more Charlie-Brown-like christmas tree in the stern. The rowers themselves were brightly decorated with strings of lights draped around them so as to sine in motion during the row.
After finishing decorating the Holiday Barge we left the dock to entertain some local houseboat moorages and riverside restaraunts. Not long after leaving the dock, the holiday spirit was intensified not by song but by snow which is somewhat unusual for the mild climate of Portland. At our far turning point, we stopped and snacked on christmas cookies and hot apple cider (spiked with lemon ginger echinacea(sp?); aren't rowers healthy). We rowed for just about an hour and returned to the dock just as the fuel ran out in our small generator that powered our lights.
Happy Holidays to the rowing community throughout the world from those of us in Portland, OR.
PS - In the photos, there is one close-up of a US National team lightweight rower. Recognize her?? You might if you knew her erg score...
James A. Hilsenteger
Oregon Rowing Unlimited
"Life is too long for bad coffee"