You are also welcome to join SWA on interactive sites:

Swatara on Ning where you can comment on forums:  http://swatara.ning.com/forum

Post your pictures of our events, water conservation, floods, pollution.  Share your memories about the Swatara....  Other forum topics include the Bordner Cabin, Eagle Scout Projects, PA Conservation Corps, Swatara State Park, Swatara River, Swatara Sojourn, Swatara Water Trail, Tenaska, Union Canal Canoe Rentals, and Water Companies.

Swatara on FaceBook--Become a Fan

 Swatara on Great Nonprofits: http://www.greatnonprofits.org/reviews/profile2/swatara-watershed-association

SWATARA WATERSHED ASSOCIATION

Lebanon, PA USA

 

22nd Annual Swatara Canoe & Clean-up Trip, May 1-2, 2010

                                                            Swatara, a River of Dreams

Ready/Set/Canoe:  Who says you need a road to take a road trip?

 
           

TRIP REGISTRATION FORM: canoe/2010 Sojourn Registration.pdf <Print and mail in this form.

PayPal

 Map        Surface Water Rescue           Evaluation Form       Sponsor Opportunities canoe/21st sojourn/Sponsor Request Upper Swatara.pdf          Water

Depth

YouTube Posts from the 2009 Swatara Sojourn:

Ground Hog Band at the Bordner Cabin lunch stop in Swatara State Park on Saturday, May 2.  12 seconds

 
Elvis on the Swatara at the Water Works lunch stop on Sunday, May 3.  After pizza, in the rain, one-half of the paddlers completed the 2009 Swatara Sojourn.   30 seconds
 
 

Swatara Sojourn 2009  28 seconds

 
2009 Swatara Sojourn 4:09 seconds

Also, a series of pictures is posted to FaceBook.  http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=22238&id=1094403643

 

Swatara Sojourn (approximately 30 miles)
Saturday and Sunday May 1-2, 2010
9AM-5PM each day
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Description of Event:  22nd Annual canoe, cleanup and camp on the Swatara Creek.
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For more information, visit www.SwataraWatershed.com
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Contact information:  Jo Ellen Litz, litz@mbcomp.com , or call 644-4698

1939-2009

Limited Offer:  Order a commemorative t-shirt of the Armar Bordner cabin today with the above picture and text.  Send requested quantity, size(s), and  check to 2501 Cumberland St., Suite 4, Lebanon PA  17042.  Please be as generous as you can.  "Profits" will go toward restoration projects.

from 2008  from2007from 2006:   View Pictures from 2005:  ViewPictures from 2004

Swatara Creek Sojourn Watershed Weekly coverage:      Movie Clips from the 17th Swatara Sojourn (2005)

(Creekside banners will mark exits)

QUESTIONS: Call 644-4698 If trip is postponed by a day, there will be a message on the machine. email: Swatara@mbcomp.com

TARGET AREA: SWATARA CREEK.

bulletThe sojourn will last 2 days and 1 night.
bulletWe have safety personnel.  Jo Ellen has completed the PA Fish & Boat Water Rescue course as well as PADI (Professional Association of Divers) Medic First Aid and Rescue Diver courses.  Two other participants, Andy & Liz Ramsey, are professional river guides.  We also have doctors and scouts with various levels of training. 
bulletSupporting organizations include
bulletTHANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR SUPER --
bulletArmy National Guard
bulletBass Pro
bulletBayer
bulletCanaan Valley Institute
bulletChesapeake BayGateways Network-National Parks
bulletCLEAN
bulletDaubert's Distributors
bulletDauphin County Conservation District
bulletDCNR
bulletDerry Township
bulletE&E Metal Fab
bulletFirstEnergy
bulletGooseberry Farms Restaurant & Truck Stop
bulletGreater Lebanon Refuse Authority
bulletHeinbaugh Ford & Trailer Park
bulletHershey Foods
bulletHershey Highmeadow Campgrounds
bulletHummelstown Borough
bulletRhonda R. Hess & Associates
bulletH.L. Snyder Funeral Home, Pine Grove
bulletIndian Echo Caverns
bulletIzaak Walton League
bulletLantern Lodge
bulletLeague of Women Voters of Lebanon County
bulletLebanon County Conservation District
bulletLebanon Tourist Promotion Agency@ the EXPO
bulletSWATARA SOJOURN SPONSORS (Cumulative 2005-06)!
bulletLebanon Valley Conservancy
bulletLickdale Campgrounds
bulletNational River Cleanup Week
bulletNorthern Swatara Creek Watershed Association
bulletSimon Kettering
bulletPA American Water Company
bulletPa Fish & Boat Commission
bulletPA Organization for Watersheds and Rivers--POWR
bulletSchuylkill County Conservation District
bulletSeltzer's Bologna
bulletSusquehanna River Basin Commission
bulletSwatara Creek Family Restaurant
bulletSwatara Creek Inn
bulletSwatara Creek Watershed Association
bulletTwin Grove Park
bulletUnion Canal Canoe Rentals/Cricket Hollow Golf
bulletWeidle Sanitation
bulletWengers Feed Mill
bulletWengert’s Dairy
bulletWerners Lumber of Pine Grove

 

bulletOnce again, we anticipate 100+ participants.

LIFE JACKETS MUST BE WORN! Also carry a whistle and license your canoe.

  Ready/Set/Fish (There is no such thing as a fisherboy.  Catch one, and you're a fisherman.)

START TIME: Assigned 9:30, 10am … start, depending on # of people. 

We have a 14-passenger shuttle van run by Tom Embich  and Dick Blouch as well as other volunteers, who will take drivers back to the starting point for their vehicle each day.  Passengers stay with their equipment.  Then, the driver picks up both the passengers and equipment.  An alternative for people with busy schedules is to leave a second personal car at the ending point each day.

 

PS.  Leaving camping gear in your car will keep it dry and safe.  Again, the shuttle will take you to the start point so that you can bring your vehicle to Lickdale Campground.

SAFETY BRIEFING EACH DAY. ATTENDANCE MANDATORY!

DONATION: $20/adult/day and $5/child/day (12 and under) helps to defray the cost of brochures, confirmations, and food. Sorry, no refunds.

REGISTRATION: Please pre-register.

DEADLINE - April 21, 2010 Mail to 2302 Guilford St., Lebanon PA 17046. It is important to sign in upon arrival.

SEE YOU ON THE SWATTIE!  TIPS

Don’t put your or other people’s lives at risk.  Wear your life vest!

Knowing how to read a river will save you energy and increase your enjoyment on the trip.  The challenge for the canoeist is to find the deeper (darker water) channels.  On a river bend, the water moves faster and is deepest on the outside of a curve.  Choosing these channels can reduce the number of times you “beach” your boat.

While many bends are clear of debris, fallen trees and brush (strainers) also pile up on outside curves.  Strainers trap solid objects such as overturned boats and people, but allow water to pass through.  Always avoid getting swept into the bank or into a strainer.   The order of rescue is people, boats, then gear.

Also, water at the base of a dam creates a hydraulic that can pull you in both tipping and trapping a boat and any occupants.  Because they don’t look dangerous, many drownings occur at low-head dams.  Avoid dams!  Listen to your safety guides.

1)      It’s important that we share the water rights to the Swattie with others.  Display courtesy and respect to landowners, other boaters, and anglers.

2)      No alcohol!

3)      Watch for overhanging trees, brush piles, submerged logs, and rocks that could tip you.

4)      Don’t stand in your canoe.  Keep your weight low.

5)      Put your heavier, and hopefully more experienced canoeist in the rear seat.

6)      To signal the canoes behind you, always expose the flat side of your paddle and:

a.      Extend your paddle to the left to indicate a “left turn.”

b.      Extend your paddle to the right to indicate a “right turn.”

c.      Hold your paddle horizontally overhead to signal a stop.

d.      For help, hold the handle and move the paddle in a circular motion overhead.  If you lose you paddles, swing just about anything (except your partner) overhead.

7)      Upstream “V’s” suggest submerged rocks.  Downstream “V’s” suggest gaps/paths between rocks.

8)      To steer left, paddle hard on the right and/or the rear person can drag his paddle on the left.  To go right, do the opposite.

So you won’t be pinned between the canoe and a rock or tree if you capsize, stay on the upstream side of your canoe.  Try to hold onto your boat.  Otherwise, to avoid hitting your head on rocks and trees, float on your back, feet pointing downstream.  Hand paddle to safety.

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