Paddle America Club

Dear folks at ACA,

We want to take this opportunity to thank you for recognizing the Canoe Club of Greater Harrisburg with the 2009 ACA Stroke of Excellence award.

It was a very pleasant surprise and the recognition is greatly appreciated. As I stated at the banquet, this award represents thirty-three years of people in our club volunteering their time and effort to the betterment of paddle sport.

It is with deep regret that we announce the recent passing of Cliff Dillmann, one of our founding members. He was our environmental Chairman, a canoe instructor and a pillar in the local environmental community. We have dedicated this fine award to his memory at our December meeting and award banquet.

I enjoyed meeting the folks at ACA and even saw a couple of people I have worked with in the past. Bob Kaufman comes to mind. Most of all I was thrilled to see Joe Jacobi and to hold his Olympic gold medal. Joe and his partner, Scott Strasbaugh, raced at our Fiddlers Elbow Slalom many years ago and Casey Eichfeld raced his first ever solo race at Fiddlers Elbow where he met his future C2 partner, Rick Powell. They were five years old. I keep telling everyone who will listen that the Penn Cup races are a vital part of the nurturing of our cadet and junior slalom racers. We at CCGH are extremely proud of our part and we thank the ACA for your sanctioning and insurance coverage for all these years.

Sincerely,

Walt Sieger
Slalom Race Chairman
Training Chairman