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by LAURA TABOR
Lifestyles Reporter
When Lauren H. Garber, a senior psychology major, learned to kayak at summer camp as a child, she had no idea what the sport would become for her.
“I happened to meet the right crowd in college, the ones who worked at Outdoor Programs,” Garber said. “Now, I’m running Class IV and Class V rapids, and I love it. It’s a very big part of my life.”
Stories like Garber’s have produced a large community of paddlers in the Appalachian State University community.
 In a previous Paddlefest, participants in kayaks prepare to race across Duck Pond. The third Paddlefest will be held today at 2 p.m. on Duck Pond. Special to The Appalachian.
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In 2007, Kyle Irby
and Nick Jewitt, students and kayakers, thought Outdoor Programs should
have a festival to promote this sport and get people interested in
kayaking.
Garber
became the coordinator for the event, and is now working on the third
Paddlefest, set to take place today at 2 p.m. at Duck Pond.
“We
haven’t done this before. We’re having Yoga for Paddlers on Duck Pond
Field,” Garber said. “It focuses a lot on shoulders and hips.”
At the same time, instructors will be in Duck Pond to give free kayak instruction.
“If
you’ve never been in a boat before, that’s fine, or if you are
intermediate or advanced, you can go over some playboating skills,”
Garber said.
Pyranha, a kayaking company, will have a fleet of demo boats for kayakers to try out in the pond.
If the weather permits, Bald Guy Brew will be there, making specialty coffee drinks.
The games and competitions begin at 3:30 p.m., with everything from kayak polo to an extreme boatercross race.
Some competitions require no prior experience, and some allow experienced boaters to show their skills.
Then the
event goes back up to Duck Pond Field for free food from Subway, along
with a raffle for kayaking prizes. Participants can win prizes from
life jackets to an actual kayak.
“We’ve
also got things for people who don’t care a lick for kayaking -
sunglasses, a hammock and a personal cooking system,” Garber said.
Then Paddlefest will host a premier for the latest episode of Lunch Video Magazine.
“LVM is like a quarterly magazine in video format,” Garber said. “It’s probably the biggest name in paddling videos.”
The emphasis at this event is evenly targeted toward both new kayakers and experienced boaters.
“There’s
a good mix in here; because the venue is Duck Pond, we get a lot of
people who are just walking by and want to know what’s going on,”
Garber said. “We also get people who have been coming for the past two
years, see the advertisements and come to represent the local kayaking
community.”
All
proceeds from the raffle will go towards the water-based division of
Outdoor Programs to get better gear for the future. In the past, new
paddles and new helmets have been a result of this event.
Erin F. Abernethy, a sophomore environmental biology major, will help to teach kayaking in Duck Pond on that day.
“It’s a
good event to make connections with other boaters. It’s sometimes hard
to meet other people in this sport,” Abernethy said. “It’s also fun to
watch; we had quite an audience last year.”
Abernethy
also recommends people who cannot attend this event but want to learn
to kayak stop by the Roll Clinic at the Student Recreation Center pool
on Wednesday nights from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
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