A Message from our President

The DRBA September 5 First Saturday Outing, paddling the Dan from the City of Eden's recently completed Draper Landing Access, hosted 98 paddlers and 77 boats. We had 56 people in single kayaks/canoes, 36 people in tandem kayaks/canoes and 6 people in triple passenger canoes. The day was perfect weather wise and water wise. A long list of DRBA volunteers deserve a BIG THANK YOU for making this day a success and enjoyable for everyone! Tremendous support from many hands and smiling faces made a bearable task of getting this record number outings group onto and off of the water safely and efficiently. We refer to our staff as Team DRBA, but that title also belongs to our general membership. Our volunteers stepped up and made this a very successful day.

Thank you Team DRBA!
Wayne Kirkpatrick, DRBA President

Volunteer Opportunity

Volunteers are needed for an upcoming DRBA activity at Eden's Riverfest on Saturday, September 19th.  Brian Williams will be hosting the casting clinic booth and teaching kids to cast between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The venue is spread out along the streets in downtown Leaksville and also includes a "River Village" at the Leaksville Landing on the Dan River. This is the location the Dan River Basin Association will be holding several activities including the famous "Tub-o-Bugs, iImpact art course and casting demos.

Last year, Brian and DRBA volunteer Darrin Doss held the casting clinics where they used a variety of rods and reels to allow youth and adults to try their hand at casting. In addition, they also had a couple of fly rods for folks that were interested in fly fishing but had never experienced casting a flyrod.  Last year DRBA helped over 100 kids and adults with casting practice at the event.

Basically here is the plan; Brian will bring about 15 rods, mostly baitcasters so the kids can try out casting

DRBA will have these at a table set up near the bridge at the Leaksville Landing. When people come up and want to know about fishing the local rivers, we provide them with info and if they would like to try casting we help them with that as well.

Please contact Brian if you are available to help during the day: bwilliams@danriver.org.

Here are some more details on the event: http://www.exploreedennc.com/riverfest.html

Tell Your Story

If you were around before or during the time Philpott Dam was built, Friends of Philpott would like to hear your story.

Be a part of the Philpott Lake Hertiage by letting the group record your story to be put into Documentary Film to share with local museums, schools, and visitors center at the dam overlook.
To Participate Contact:
Friends of Philpott, Inc.
P.O. Box 265
Ferrum, VA 24088

Phone: (276) 681-6805
E-mail: ldrage@comcast.net

http://www.friendsofphilpott.com/
Find us on http://www.facebook.com/

Contributed by: Linda Drage

SMITH RIVER ADVENTURE OUTFITTERS UPCOMING EVENTS

Announcing Friday Floats-$10 OFF WITH A FREE GUIDE
Kayaks for $30 and Canoes for $40. Take advantage of the warm fall weekdays and Martinsville City Dam releases. Paddle the Smith River from South Martinsville to the Sports Complex.

Suitable for beginners, four miles of Class II paddling. Call ahead for reservations as there are limited number of rentals and so that we can have your equipment ready.
Boats, paddles and life jackets, and shuttle included.

Launch time will be approximately 4:00 please arrive at least 30minutes early to get fitted for equipment.

BASSET FESTIVAL
Look for our booth at the Basset Festival this Sat Sept 12th.We will be offering short fun paddles on the Smith River at discount pricing.

BEGINNER KAYAK CLINC
Sat Sept 26th On the lake behind Matinsville City Dam at Doe Run Park, you will learn basic paddling strokes and techniques 12pm to 4pm.

INTERMEDIATE KAYAK CLINC
Sun Sept 27th

Learn techniques for traveling safely paddling Class II rivers 12pm to 4pm

Contact: Eric Juday, Smith River Adventure Outfitters
http://www.smithriveradventureoutfitters.com/live2pdl@yahoo.com
276-252-0701

Wow, What a Weekend!

Smith River Fest 2009 has now come to a close, but what a fun event it was! If you made it out to some of the festivities, thanks for your support.
A huge thank you to Dominion for adjusting the generation schedule to allow for 3 days of water over the long weekend !! In case you didn't get to experience Smith River Fest first-hand, here are some highlights from the weekend.

Smith River Film Festival

The Smith River Film Fest was a fun night out at the movies with more than 100 guests in attendance. We laughed at bloopers, sat in awe of mother nature, and enjoyed the scenic beauty of the Smith River. Read what the Martinsville Bulletin said about the event here.

Film Contest winners were:
3rd Place: "Suprise on the Smith River" by Andy Parker. A delightful film about a friendly otter on the Smith River. In the film, Andy and "Ollie" the Otter have quite a conversation of chirps, squeeks, and whistles as the curious animal scopes out the humans floating though his home.

2nd Place: "Troop 168 on the River" by Betti Seale & James Whitlow. This series of clips shows about 20 scouts in Boy Scout Troop 168 enjoying a day on the Smith River and the carnage that ensues as they paddle over Eggleston Falls, a series of rapids near Ridgeway.  According to Mr. Whitlow, the boys really enjoyed falling out of their boats and swimming in the cool water! This film also won the Best Wipeout Award.

 
and the first place trophy went to....

Linda Drage for "A Safety Short: Learning to Kayak"! In Linda's comical film, she relays safety tips that she learned while attending an intermediate kayak class offered by Smith River Adventure Outfitters. To illustrate her lessons, Linda superimposed her face onto photos of boaters from around the world as she demonstrated what to do and not do while paddling. Clever tips and witty humor definately made this film a crowd pleaser.

Due to popular demand an encore showing of the film festival will be held at the Philpott Lake Visitor's Center this fall, exact date TBA. Stay tuned for more details.

Start filming your river adventures now in preparation for the 2010 Smith River Film Festival, but please be safe while on the river. You can take a lesson from Jennifer & Paddler Bob!

DRBA's Gear Swap
Since this was the first time that DRBA has ever held a Gear Swap, we were unsure of what to expect. Boy were we suprised when more than 150 people showed up to shop for recreational gear! Many good deals were claimed including two kayaks, life jackets, kid's swimsuits with built in floatation, hiking and paddling gear, t-shirts, bike racks, and a mountain bike. A DRBA supporter even brought out free biking and paddling shirts to distribute among the crowd.

Due to the overwhelming interest in buying second-hand recreational gear, another Gear Swap is being planned for March 2010. If you have equipment that you would like to offer for sale or trade, please contact Jennifer Doss to get more information on the upcoming event. 276-634-2545 or jdoss@danriver.org.

The Main Event

Smith River Fest 2009 on Labor Day was tons of fun; more than 250 visitors came out to enjoy the live music, food, vendors, and of course the river! Special thanks to our vendors: Doss Nature Photography, Martinsville Leisure Services, Tom Perry, Henry County Parks & Recreation, US Army Corps of Engineers, MALUJOMA Energy, Activate Martinsville Henry County, Friends of Philpott, Troublesome Creek Outfitters, Three River Outfitters, Smith River Adventure Outfitters, Southwestern Piedmont Master Naturalists, and the Community Nature Initiative.

Visitors to the Labor Day event came from as far away as Georgia, Richmond, Fredricksburg, Greensboro, Roanoke, and Raleigh to paddle the Smith River.

The highlight of the day was the first ever Smith River Canoe/Kayak Race hosted by Franklin County Department of Tourism. Winners for the six mile race were:

Kayak Male Adult
1. Tom Eick 0:41:27
2. Dave Segars 0:42:43
3. Derek Keaton 0:48:11

Kayak Male Senior
1. Scott Keaton 0:48:07
2. Sam Keaton 0:48:17
3. Andy Parker 0:53:10

Canoe Solo Male Adult
1. Dale Swanson 0:50:27
2. Marlo Crawford 0:52:52

Canoe Solo Male Senior
1. Charles Strauss 0:48:42

Canoe Solo Male Super Senior
1. Ed Sharp 0:46:53

Canoe Tandem Adult
1. Tom Blue & Tom Blue Sr. 0:50:28

Canoe Tandem Senior
1. Kirk Havens & Jim Farrington 0:41:35
2. Conny Roussos & David Thomas 0:44:35

On behalf of the Dan River Basin Association and it's Martinsville Henry County Rivers & Trails Group we would like to thank all who participated in the second annual Smith River Fest on Labor Day. If you have ever been involved in planning a festival, you are extremely aware that it takes an "army' of staff and volunteers to make a safe and enjoyable day of activities for a wide variety of participants. The 2009 Smith River Fest was a partnership between Henry County Parks and Recreation Department, Franklin County Tourism and the Dan River Basin Association. This event was only possible due to the cooperation and support of these organizations dedicated to making the Smith River a recreational destination. The Labor Day activities held at the Bassett Canoe Access were a success due to the extremely dedicated efforts of people like Roger Adams, Henry County Parks and Recreation, Debra Weir, Franklin County Tourism and many others in both counties that dedicated their time and efforts to the event. Thanks to the Franklin County Tourism Department who organized conducted the river race held at River Fest this year. Finanical support came from many contributors including Martinsville Henry County Tourism, Henry County Parks and Recreation, Franklin County Tourism and others. We'd like to thank all the partners, volunteers and staff that contributed to this event including: The Henry County Sheriffs Department, Henry and Franklin county emergency personal, The Franklin county Swift water Rescue team, Bassett Industries, Lonnie Tatum, the US Army Corps of Engineers, Dominion, and all the organizations that participated in the events of the day. A huge thank you for all involved in making this event possible!

--Brian Williams and Jennifer Doss, Dan River Basin Association

Don't forget! Official Smith River Fest T-shirts are still available from Henry County Parks & Recreation for $10 and post cards from the event are available from Doss Photography for $1. Get them while supplies last!

DRBA Celebrates Eden's Land of Two Rivers

October 3, 2009 - 10:00 am
DRBA's October 3 outing, our annual NC Big Sweep cleanup, will celebrate the City of Eden's increased river access. The two-part float will use three public access points on the Smith and Dan rivers.
Meeting at 10:00 a.m. in the parking lot of Three Rivers Outfitters, we will launch our boats at Island Ford Landing, located at the Meadow Road trailhead of the Eden Smith River Greenway. We will first clean up two miles of the Smith, taking out at the Eden Wildlife Access, locally known as "the Boat Landing," on Bethlehem Church Road.
Loading up our boats for a short shuttle, we will lunch at Leaksville Landing Access and Park. After lunch, the cleanup will resume with a 1.5-mile paddle on the Dan back to the Boat Landing.
Although the rivers flow through the City of Eden, high forested banks hide many of the homes and businesses and provide a pleasant rural setting. Gravel bars may generate riffles, but the rivers tend to be shallow and easy to navigate.
The entire trip is rated Class 1 in difficulty.
At the new Island Ford Access, MillerCoors Brewery is partnering with DRBA on a reforestation project to capture runoff from the picnic shelter and parking lot.
Each river boasts its own rich history. Island Ford is named for the place where Colonial travelers on the road from Salem, North Carolina to Petersburg, Virginia crossed the Smith River.
Leaksville Landing is the only known existing port in the United States for batteaux that carried nineteenth-century commerce on our shallow inland rivers. Just downstream from Leaksville Landing is the 30-foot-tall stone piling from the 1852 Leaksville Covered Bridge, which fell into the river in 1943.
For more points of interest, see Map 1 of "An Insider's Guide to the Smith River in Virginia and North Carolina," and Maps 47 -- 48 of "An Insider's Guide to the Dan River in North Carolina and Virginia." Both are available at http://www.danriver.org/ .

Meet at 10:00 a. m. at Three Rivers Outfitters, 413-B Church Street, Eden, NC. Please bring boat, life jacket, plenty of fluids, lunch, and work gloves. NC Big Sweep will provide trash bags for the cleanup. Although the trip is not technically demanding or hazardous, boaters will be asked to sign a waiver.
In addition, those who sign a separate waiver for NC Big Sweep and participate in recording the types and amounts of trash collected will be eligible for prize drawings provided by the Rockingham County Beautification Council.
Three Rivers Outfitters, 336-627-6215 or http://www.3-r-o.com/, will offer boat rentals and shuttle for the float.

Directions: To reach Three Rivers Outfitters, take NC 14 to Eden, North Carolina. Turn west on Meadow Road (NC 770/NC 700). Go through one traffic light at Stadium Drive. Cross the Smith River on Island Ford Bridge, enter the traffic circle, and immediately turn right into the parking lot.
Further Information: T Butler, 336-349-5727 or members@danriver.org.

Doe Run, Morning Fog

Paddling upstream from Doe Run Canoe Access, Rob Lovell took this picture of the sun rising above the trees and the early morning fog as it blankets the Smith River
Thanks for sending in the pic Rob !