Video Night, a visitor, and a Great Lakes update

Last night was SKOAC video night in the basement of Midwest Mountaineering and another crop of excellent kayak videos were debuted. This is the night that marks the semi official end of the paddle season, although my pathetic offering for the evening was an infomercial for the 4th Annual Gales of November paddle next Thursday. I would like to think that is the official end of the season but we shall see. We had excellent videos from Pukasawa Park in Ontario, the Silver Islet to Rossport paddle, the Chippewa Flowage (the 'Big Chip') in northern Wisconsin, and some Apostle Islands stuff. We also saw Jerome's portfolio for his budding outdoor modeling career but I'm sure most are trying to blot that out of their memory banks. It was a great night with good memories, an adult beverage or two, and early planning for next years potential adventures.

Its been a rough week for me however, with late nights for the election, a customer after work event, and the SKOAC videos last night. A visiting dignitary will be jetting in from Milwaukee today and the plan is for an informal happy hour reception with a pseudo elite group of paddlers. The snow is beginning to fall here so we hope Midwest Airlines is on time. After that its off to the hunting camp for what promises to be a weekend of R&R.

The most momentous event of the week, the Obama election, must be mentioned also. During the campaign Obama pledged $5 billion bucks for a Great Lakes restoration project. Of course both candidates pledged $5 billion bucks for almost anything that anyone wanted during the campaign but there are indications that Obama just may follow through. He is from Chicago, a Great Lakes city, and is actually aware of the issues. His newly appointed Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, introduced a comprehensive Great Lakes cleanup packgae in Congress in 2003, which is a great indication also. Our economic malaise and the giant budget deficit will be major challenges but we can hope that the Great Lakes at least get a good look and a taste of the Federal pie. Its gotta be be better than what we've seen after 16 years with guys from Arkansas and Texas at the wheel.
(Photos courtesy of Ron O)