Friday, Jan. 20, Camp Orkila at 5 p.m.
By Martin Taylor
Orcas Island Rowing Club invites all to join with them in their once a year celebration of Orcas and rowing.
The evening has been renamed to “Pure Pleasure.” It’s an evening of feasting and entertainment being held at the Camp Orkila dining lodge on Friday January 20. It will be an evening of pure pleasure with feasting, regaling, dancing and more all in the historic lodge around a roaring fire.
There is a “happy hour” starting at 5 p.m. with live music, free appetizers, a no-host-bar and good socializing. Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m. There is free child care available and tickets are $35 each.
The event is a fund raiser, but there are no auctions or other distracting activities. As much as anything the evening is an opportunity for Orcas Rowing to connect with the broader community. Of course the club appreciates the income from the dinner and any donations.
Most particularly this year as in addition to their usual need for about $5,000 in annual income that is needed to support the program they have a need for a new quad rowing shell in the next year. The rules have been changed in the Northwest region for junior varsity quad races. In the past the Northwest region has been out of step with the rest of the country and has held coxed quad races.
Starting in Spring of 2013 the NW region will step in step with the rest of the country and have “coxless” or “straight” quad races. In these races the bow rower must steer the boat and there is no coxswain in the boat to steer and call out the strokes. So to be competitive the club will need to replace one of their current quads with a newer coxless shell. New quads are in the region of $12k to $18k even for moderate cost boats.
So the club is looking for some help in funding a new boat purchase in 2012. The current junior crew is particularly competitive and has a great chance to medal at regional and national regattas (competitions) this year. So they could make excellent use of the new boat if it was available for this Spring. The club would be open to discussion with an Orcas based sponsor if any individuals or businesses are interested. Such a small club as Orcas finishing strongly in national competition would be highly newsworthy.
Contact Martin Taylor martin@orcasdigerati.com or 360.376.6935 for reservations and information or buy tickets online at the rowing club’s web site: www.orcasislandrowing.org. It is almost too late to make reservations by mail, but donations are gratefully accepted at : Orcas Island Rowing, c/o Martin Taylor, 455 Eastsound Shores Road, Eastsound, WA, 98245. Reservations must arrive by Wednesday January 11.
