S.E.E.K. Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Club

(Fun in Southern Oregon)









    Outrigger Canoe Club
Are you looking for Fun and Adventure? Do you want to make a difference
in your life and the lives of others? How about getting fit and back in shape?
If your answer is yes.. Then this is the place for you !!

Southern Oregon’s Outrigger Canoe Club is for anyone [Kane(male) or
Wahine(female)] age ~14 and up who wants to have fun on the water, be
part of a team, make new friends, learn about the culture/history of paddling,
and travel to compete in canoe races.

Practices will begin in the Spring of 2004 and run through October and will
be held at Emigrant Lake near the south end of Ashland.

For more information or to sign up:

E-Mail me at kmurf@mind.net
or
call Kim Marie Murphy at (541) 488-8520.



Here in southern Oregon in the beautiful town of Ashland we have
brought a little bit of the Islands to Emigrant Lake.

The SEEK Outrigger Canoe (OC) Program is sponsored by S.E.E.K.
(Self-Esteem, Exploration, and Knowledge) The Heart of Nature,
a nature-based, non-profit empowerment program for girls and
young women.

The OC program is aligned with SEEK’s mission of empowering young women
and teaching them life skills in a manner consistent with giving back to others
and their communities. Our community-wide program began as a paddling
program for young women aged ~14-18 who are leading the way in creating
an OC program for everyone.

At our Canoe Blessing Ceremony held in October, over 60 citizens of all ages
got to try their hand at paddling. Paddling clinics for anyone from age eight to
eighty will be held in the spring of 2004, thus encouraging the start-up of our
community-wide program. The program is being designed to serve as a model
for similar programs throughout the country.

One motivation for creating our model program is that heart disease is the
"Number One" killer in America, mostly due to lack of exercise and social
isolation. The OC program addresses both of these issues by providing
opportunity for people to come together in a supportive environment and be
active.OC paddling is an ultimate team sport---six members of a crew working
together to move a canoe through the water with maximum efficiency and
teamwork. More than that, it is steeped in the culture, traditions, and spirituality
of the Polynesian people. The canoe and the sport of OC racing represent the
embodiment of connection with the natural world. The history of the canoe
traces the history and spirit of the Polynesian people and their relation to the
sea and the earth. The experience of paddling as a member of an OC team
reflects the adventure of navigating through life and is steeped in lessons of
focus, commitment, determination, teamwork, and belief in a dream.
We hope you can join us!

We would welcome the chance to help you create a similar program for your
community and look forward to seeing you on the water!   Aloha!


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