Quietwater Films - A kayak and adaptive paddling gear for use by the DNR to promote adaptive paddling facilities

Every once in a while a situation comes along and it becomes clear to you that you can help make a difference. This very thing happened to me a few weeks ago. I met a young man named Andy Janicki. An accident three years ago, left him paralyzed from the chest down.

Andy is an accessibility coordinator for the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources (WI-DNR). A big part of this job is to make sure that DNR facilities across the state are accessible to those with disabilities. It occurred to me after meeting Andy that he could really help grow awareness and visibility of the adaptive paddling community as part of his job at the DNR. After talking with him further, it also occurred to me that he could do some of his work from the water, while paddling. This could bring some attention to the efforts WI-DNR is making for those with disabilities, as well as the adaptive paddling community in general. After our meeting, I sent an email to Johnson Outdoors, the Wisconsin-based parent of Old Town Canoe & Kayak. Yesterday, I received a response from Cynthia Georgeson at Johnson Outdoors letting me know that they were happy to donate one of their kayaks to the WI-DNR in support of Andy's efforts.

Thank you Johnson Outdoors!

In the mean time, I had been talking with Dana Johnson, the outreach specialist at the Brookfield, WI. REI, and told her about meeting Andy. She wanted to do something to help and suggested that we might turn to our fellow paddlers and see if we could raise the money to purchase the adaptive paddling gear from Chosen Valley Canoe Accessories.

Chosen Valley Canoe Accessories is owned and operated by Kevin Carr. Along with some really great portaging yokes, he makes adaptive paddling gear. Here's a quick video from Canoecopia 2007 with Kevin Carr. An example of the kayak seat we would like to get for Andy is featured in the interview, as well as the pontoon rig.