One of my first memories is of canoeing the flooded streets of rural Florida with my dad, but the Flint River in Newnan was “our” river growing up. My brothers and I paddled it enough that we got to know the twists and turns between each of spot of our usual put-in and take-out. Then my folks got divorced, we all started to get older, and busier, and for 15 years I don’t think I paddled a single time.

When I got a job at the Chattahoochee Nature Center managing school programs, they asked if I could also lead canoe trips. Fortunately canoeing hasn’t changed much in the last few millennia and I picked it right back up. The Chattahoochee became “my” river and I did the same 3 mile stretch over 300 times. It was so cool watching the river change through each season, expecting the same family of ducks every Spring, and certain deer each Fall.

But I loved exposing new people to the river every weekend. When the Georgia River Network approached us about leading a group of students on their annual Paddle Georgia trip, I jumped at the opportunity. For 9 years I led 12 under-served middle school students each year on a 100-mile canoeing/kayaking and camping trip. I’ve done two more trips just for fun, so in all I’ve paddled over 1000 miles of Georgia rivers, plus another 1000+ on the ‘Hooch and countless overs on the Flint.

This is my jam. And GRN is my jam. Paddle Georgia is their biggest event, and it connects 400 people to the rivers of Georgia annually. When they aren’t putting on this event, then they are leading cleanups, helping establish Riverkeepers throughout the state, creating river guide books, or representing rivers at the Capitol. They are doing incredible work to keep our rivers clean for us to drink and animals to live.

On the 2020 trip I’ll be leading environmental games and challenges for all the kids on the trip in the evenings after everyone paddles. I wanted to invite some kids from Tritt, but there are just too many! (Seriously getting attached after spending 5 years with the same kids). So, you’ll have to come yourselves. This is a great family trip even if you are new to paddling! GRN handles all the meals; our campsites have indoor sleeping options, showers and bathrooms; and they move all of our stuff between campsites so you don’t need to bring anything on the river. My wish is that you all come on the trip with me! You can learn more and signup here: https://garivers.org/paddle-georgia/.

A donation to their canoe-a-thon goes a long way towards supporting their year-round efforts. I’m trying to raise $2k myself. You can donate online here: https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/joey-giunta/paddle-georgia-canoeathon-2020. Thanks for reading my super long post!