Meeting was called to order at 7:05. Officers in attendance at the Bayland Community Center meeting room were Brent Hwang, Commodore; Greg Fan, Vice Commodore; Bruce Bodson, Fleet Captain; Christy Long, Newsletter Editor, Alice Nissen, Recorder; Ann Derby, Sargent at Arms. Officers in attendance via Zoom were Tim Brooking, Boatswain, and Tom Douglas, Conservation Chairman.
Bruce gave the Fleet Captain’s report and stated there were three events since our last meeting, with 24 participants of which 19 were members and five were nonmembers for a total of 18.3 miles; “another month plagued by cancellations.” There were two bird counts: Wharton County Peach Creek CBC from which 37 species of birds were seen; and 35 species were seen on the San Jacinto Wilderness CBC. For the year 2022, there were 60 mileage accruing events for a total mileage of 695.69 miles. There were nine members who paddled over 100 miles: Bruce Bodson, 375 miles; David Portz, 209 miles; Karen Suggs, 187 miles; Doug Fairchild, 186 miles; Constantin Platon, 184 miles; Tim Brooking, 174 miles; Christy Long, 122 miles; Kent Walters, 122 miles; and Greg Fan, 109 miles. Paddlers accumulating over 50 miles: Fran Wilcox, 93 miles; Brent Hwang, 93 miles; Joe Coker, 92 miles; Bob Scaldino, 79 miles; Alice Nissen, 76 miles; Sara Hook, 74 miles; Faye Morrisey, 74 miles; Tom Douglas, 62 miles; and Duane Heckelsberg, 58 miles. Since the last meeting, there were four events: Lake Charlotte, 7 miles; the Christmas paddle on Lake Charlotte, 4 miles; and the two bird counts as mentioned above. Upcoming events are Brazos to Sugar Land on January 15, the Texas Winter 100 K on January 28, and the Colorado River, Garwood to Glen Flora, on January 28.
Tim gave the boatswain report and stated there are four new members: Andrea Coker, Rhonda Cook, Chuck Linton, Jacob Yates. There were nine renewals for a total membership of 146 with 894 Facebook followers.
Tom gave the conservation report. He talked about the Clear Creek Watershed Partnership and encouraged our participation and input. The next virtual meeting is Wednesday, January 25. The next meeting of the Watershed Protection Plan for the East Fork San Jacinto River will be in February and our participation and input is also encouraged. The San Marcus River Cleanup is on March 4. For more complete information on these topics, please visit the HCC Conservation Forum.
Christy handed out some Houston Canoe Club pins that were passed on to us from Louis Aulbach’s estate.
Ann presented order forms for HCC shirts with directions on how to contact the vendor and order directly.
Bob’s purser report will be posted in the newsletter.
Bob Scaldino and Natalie Wiest gave us a wonderful presentation of their one-week paddling trip on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in Maine. There were two canoes and four paddlers: Karen Newscom and Bob Scaldino in one canoe and Natalie Wiest and John Diehl in another. After a 100-mile shuttle, they put in at Chamberlain Lake where they began their 92-mile paddling journey. The pictures were beautiful of river scenery and Bob’s cleverly designed campsites. The river was “theirs” as they did not run into any other paddlers or houses along the shore. They made a side trip on land to see an abandoned steam engine and railroad cars from 1926. The trip included Class I and II rapids, a few short portages around waterfalls, some moose sightings, birds and fishing. It was a beautiful trip that all of us would like to take.
Twenty-four people attended the meeting at the Bayland Community Center and 12 attended via Zoom. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.