We met at 10:30 am at Leatherwood Ford to paddle in honor of Jack Lyle.  One of his favorite sections to paddle was from the Confluence of the New and Clear Fork Rivers to Leatherwood Ford on Big South Fork of the Cumberland.  Before we put on the river, James asked for a moment of silence in Jack’s memory.

We were blessed with a beautiful day, sunny with blue skies and mild temperatures!  19 bodies started the journey: one shredder, one raft, one canoe, one Duckie and 13 kayaks.  We returned with approximately the same number!  There was an unusual lack of carnage on today’s run!

 Several paddlers knew Jack and shared stories of his humor, leadership and good fellowship.  It seems that everyone loved Jack and the world was a better place with him in it. 

A tradition for this memorial paddle is the awarding of the Golden Plunger.  It can be a positive or negative award!  This year’s Golden Plunger Award went to Austin Chamberlain for hitting all of his combat rolls (3) on his PFD of this section as well as his first ever combat roll!  There were a couple of honorable mentions;  Chris for almost losing 2 boats during shuttle and David for wrong guidance.

It was a fun and beautiful day on the water!  Thanks to James and Jonathan for your leadership and keeping us all safe on the river.

Checkout the photos in the gallery!

Susan Korf