Door County Rundown

As the last day of the Door County Kayak Symposium comes to a conclusion and lights go out in the big tent, I find myself thinking back on the event and wondering what makes it so different from all the others. I think if I were to sum it up in one word it would be, "family"! I have been to my fair share of kayak gatherings in my tenure as a coach and a boat rep. I think I speak from experience when I say this one leads with the notion of making this a warm and friendly thing. And the Rutabaga staff does it not only for the participants but the reps, coaches, and the staff of the wagon wheel. Everyone is here with their own agendas for sure, but all through out the day, people are helping one another. Sharing stories, songs, gear, and whatever else comes along is just the norm here. The staff strives for each and every person to feel like this place is there place, that this time is their time, and this little world is their big ol' goofy world. And let me say that it is not the staff waiting on the participants hand and foot. Far from it! It is the fostering of team work and the treating everyone as friends and family. In some ways this may be the summer camp of story books. Where we are all busy doing our own little hobbies during the day only to gather in the great lodge for some dinner while the counselors tell us about the next days events. Then, with the excitement of the youthful, we all head into our little cabins to hide under a sheet with a flashlight and talk like only childhood pals can talk.
I truly feel that there is the family we are born with and the family we choose. I am proud to have been chosen by this family. Real relationships are pretty hard to come by these days so it is nice to know that places like this exist to build them, forged by hard work, a common love, and a sanctuary for these things to still mean something.
To all of my friends and family at the Door County Symposium and the staff of Rutabaga, safe travels our homes and I will give no "goodbyes" but rather a "until we meet down the road".