Van Life vs. Keener Life | Abby Holcombe

Unlike most of my fellow keeners I don’t live in the standard brick and mortar house. I actually live in a 175 square foot Winnebago motorhome with my parents and our enormous yellow lab. When most people go to summer camp they probably don't expect their cabin to be more spacious than their home but in my case, Yakistan (the girls cabin) feels especially roomy with Yakistan’s 3 bedrooms, a spacious common area, bathroom, and kitchen. For anyone who has lived in or visited Yakistan, the living room area alone is equivalent to my whole ‘house’. Yakistan is just one of the many creatively names cabins such as White House, Buseater, Istambul, Thunderdome, Roberstons, and the Foosball Room which all have varying purposes. My RV lifestyle might seem weird to most people but I have gotten used to van life in the last 4 years. However, there are still many differences in-between RV life and Yakistan living. The biggest difference in-between the Winnebago and Keenerville is that we don't have a shower in my rv so the daily cleansing is appreciated not only by me but by my friends and fellow keeners. Another major difference in between van life and keener life is that my RV does not have an oven. This is an unfortunate thing because who doesn't like cookies and not being able to cook them leaves the RV gloomy. However, last year at keeners I accidentally scorched Yakistan due to not checking the oven (where we were storing food) before I preheated the Yakistan oven. My parents are really grateful that the RV doesn’t leave me the opportunity to go up in flames. I am also an only child so living with 6 other girls and a roommate isn’t something I am accustomed to but I really appreciate the time with girls my age and love sharing clothes and the constant dance parties. Most people might think that I do more kayaking when I am at keeners than when I am in the RV but I try to kayak almost everyday so I don't have a huge adjustment when it comes to the time I spend on the water. Keener life is very similar to RV life but if I had to choose in between the two I’m not sure if I could pick one over the other but I love and appreciate all the educational opportunities for my kayaking and getting to spend time with old and new friends! 

Safety on the River by Bryce Aaron

This past weekend we learned first aid and Swiftwater Rescue. What I am going to talk about today is river signs and why they are important.

To start off, there are a few basic river sings that we should all know:

X- Crossing your arms in an "X" means don't come down.

l- With your arms or paddle straight up in the air mean all clear come down.

_-A horizontal line with your paddle mean don't come down too.

When a paddler mean a circle in the air then point in a direction means eddie out on left or right. If it's followed by a number, most likely "1" or "2" means it is a 1 or 2 person eddie.

Whistle blows are also important but vary between groups. 1 is normally look upstream, 2 is someone is getting worked or swam but is ok, and 3 is HELP, eddie out and go help. These calls do vary so it is good to review them before any run.

I hope that these river signals will help you on your next river. As a reminder it is always good to review these signals with your crew before you do your river.

The Tournment to last the Ages by Ray Barbera

Competition, that one word sets keener adrenaline pumping and makes the fear palpable in the air. Every friday the keeners compete at a feature on the river (ex Pushbutton Garburator)

and one of us hopes to score the most points in one ride to win the golden ribbon of awesomeness. But this friday there was a backroom game going on….. Foosball. Today was the tournament to decide what pairs were the best at the game. Every participant was prepared for the best, but ready for the worst. 5 teams and only one can claim the glory of being the best. The tournament starts and in no time we are at the finals two teams in the red corner French Connection with Tom Dolle and Mathieu Dumoulin and in the blue corner The Dream Team starring Ray Barbera and Kaelin Fridenson. BAM BAM! The game starts and immediately the French Connection scores. Minutes go by and then The Dream Team makes a comeback and they score 5,6,7 goals. By this time the French Connection is getting desperate and BAM BAM the score is tied up at 7 goals. The players are perspiring with sweat from the nervousness the win is on the line either you win and are glorious forever or you lose and are shamed with embarrassment. The Dream team gets the ball and all of the sudden two goals are scored and one more the DREAM TEAM WINS what a miracle eternal glory for Ray and Kaelin.

P.S Happy BirthDay Mathieu