Seed to Sea

As a board member of the The Friends of Lake Shore State Park, I recently attended the Gathering of Waters festival. There was lots to see and do and lots of energy all around, and I will have some images of the event to share with you. Today, I want to mention how (above) a fellow rowing ashore caught my eye. His craft had elegant lines and was made of wood. I was hooked. I waited until he came ashore to chat him up.

Turns out his name is Dave and he'd been a teacher at a local Milwaukee charter school. He and one of his students had brought two crafts they had built as a class. The other boat was a strip canoe.

I loved the work I saw but was disappointed to hear that the school's funding had not been renewed. There would be no more of these classes. Dave, as it turns out, has decided to try and take his work public as a workshop. I hope he can succeed and pass on these skills.

He doesn't have a web site, yet; but he can be reached at davemangin@hotmail.com

Hopefully, he and his students will be able to continue pursuing this traditional way of constructing boats.

Paddle safe...

DS