My very first time paddling was around 1980, in a canoe with my Boy Scout troop. We paddled from the Wyoming Pond access on the Wood River upstream to Barbarville Dam and back, which was about all I could handle. It was the first of many canoe trips with that troop.

I didn't join RICA (there was no "K" in the acronym at the time) until the early 90's, and at the time I was very interested in whitewater kayaking and wanted to go with a group who knew the rivers. Dave Wilson assured me that the Knightsville Section was an appropriate "beginner" river for me, so I showed up and met him, as well as a friendly dude named Lou Whittier. Dave advised me not to follow Lou, which turned out to be solid advice. That stretch of river was well above my skill level, as it turned out, but the group got me safely down in one piece without any swims, and that started a long, rewarding whitewater experience. I've since drifted more to flatwater and multi-day trips, but every trip that I have done with both RICA and RICKA has been a comfortable and rewarding experience. I try to be as friendly and helpful to all new members I meet as older members were to me as I started out.