Ken-Ton SEPTSA

2009 Adaptive Water Sports Expo

This year the Adaptive Water Sports Expo will be held on August 21-23 so mark your calendar. As last year, it will be at the Erie Canal Harbor Central Wharf. Our mission is to showcase the availability of water sports to the community at large and particularly the disabled and disadvantaged community. We hope to have demonstrations and events that will encourage people to join us in these activities on a regular basis.

This year the EXPO will be an event in the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project.

We need volunteers to help with the EXPO and ideas on how to make it better. If you're interested in helping please let us know. nowakrad@aol.com.

WNY Adaptive Water Sports

A Chapter of Disabled Sports USA

If I can do this I can do anything

April 18, 2009 Newsletter

What's New: Our application to operate our Saturday morning sailing program from the Erie Canal Harbor Central Wharf has been approved. As any of you who were there last summer know, this is probably the best wheelchair accessible docking facility on the Buffalo waterfront. We will be allowed to permanently fix the post for our lift on the dock as well.

This location is also much more accessible to the lake, doesn't have the seaweed problem we struggled with at the Small Boat Harbor, and provides an immediate sheltered area to sail the small dinghies. We will not keep the boats there permanently, but will bring them across the river each morning for the program.

As soon as we get the boats in the water, hopefully by Memorial Day, we will start sailing each Saturday morning until October 1st.

Meeting: Our regularly scheduled Advisory Board meeting will be Monday, April 20. Advisory Board meetings are normally the 3rd Monday of each month at 6:30 PM. They are held at the Lackawanna Community Development Corp. office at 640 Ridge Road and everyone is welcome to come, see what we are all about, and get involved.

SCUBA: Phoenix Scuba & Watersports had a booth at the Buffalo Wellfest last Friday and Saturday where they promoted the therapeutic and wellness benefits of SCUBA and other water sports for both the physically challenged and the able bodied. They gave over a considerable amount of their booth space to promote our adaptive program and Tony gave a series of lectures explaining the positive effects of water sports on wellness. Onstage with him were one of our sailing dinghies and our big tube. Thanks Tony and Carole.

DD Day: This year we will again have a display at the WNY DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AWARENESS DAY CONFERENCE held on May 21 at the Buffalo Convention Center. This is the largest DD Day Conference in the state and typically attracts over 1500 professionals and consumers with seminars, workshops, and over 100 exhibitors.

Over the past couple of years several of the DD facilities and Group Homes have had sailing outings with us and they seem to enjoy it immensely.

Water Skiing: This year Disabled Sports USA is offering Summerfest grants to its chapters. DSUSA has been very successful in organizing and promoting winter skiing programs and is hoping to improve their summer programs to get them up to the same level. The grants are competitive, ranging from $1000 to $5000 and will be awarded on the basis of biggest bang for the bucks€ . We have applied for a grant large enough for us to get our own adaptive skis to go along with the boat that Bill Howley and family so graciously donated last year. Having our own skis will allow us to do adaptive water skiing on a regular basis instead of just special events when we can borrow the equipment.

Steve Spitz is chairing up this effort and has written up a specification for the equipment. Steve Goodwin who is a board member of DSUSA and is the guy who came down and taught us how to do adaptive water skiing promises to put in a good word for us. Thanks again Steve.

2009 Adaptive Water Sports Expo: This year the Adaptive Water Sports Expo will be held on August 21-23 so mark your calendar. As last year, it will be at the Erie Canal Harbor Central Wharf. Our mission is to showcase the availability of water sports to the community at large and particularly the disabled and disadvantaged community. We hope to have demonstrations and events that will encourage people to join us in these activities on a regular basis.

This year the EXPO will be an event in the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project.

We need volunteers to help with the EXPO and ideas on how to make it better. If you’re interested in helping please let us know. nowakrad@aol.com.

Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project: The Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project is a partnership between Disabled Sports USA, its chapters and the Wounded Warrior Project, providing year round sports programs free of charge for permanently severely injured service members from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflict and the Global War on Terrorism.

Programs conducted by chapters can take place at sites throughout the U.S., offering Wounded Warriors the chance to re-build their lives through sports.

These are active duty service men and women who are transported to the event from various military medical facilities along with a caregiver or family member, are provided food and lodging, and given the opportunity to participate in the sporting events.

Carly's Crossing: Carly’s Crossing is an open water swim benefiting pediatric cancer research at Roswell Park. Swimmers get sponsors and then swim one of three courses in the lake. Hundreds of swimmers raise tens of thousands of dollars for cancer research at Roswell.

We have traditionally helped out by setting the courses in the lake and providing a safety boat for the event and last year our own Tom Hagerty and Carol Reis swam in the event and were a big hit. Several of the Carly’s board members were at our fundraiser showing support for us and we would like to support them in return.

This year the swim will be on Saturday, August 15 and we will sponsor any of our members who want to participate.