By Rebecca Hendrix
Photos by Dan Henry / DanHenryPhotography.com`
On Saturday, September 9, 2017, TVCC hosted the 50th Anniversary Celebration at the Hiwassee Whitewater Company/Flip Flop Grill. This event had been a year and a half in the planning and required a lot of work and dedication by members of the 50th Committee.
Katie Larue and Rebecca Hendrix co-chaired the planning committee which consisted of Becky Richard, John Hubbard, John Kern, Rachel Roman, BG Smith, Momma T, Jim Ledbetter, Paul Shoun, Pat Carver, Ryan Lycan, Spence Lycan, David Riall, Stacy Stone, Uwe and Carol Zitzow, Beth Johnson, Meryl Stark, Mike Shillinger, and Carolyn Rand. Special thanks to Mike Shillinger and BG Smith for all the extra work you put in during the week of the event. The committee met about every 6-8 weeks throughout the year and helped cohost the Christmas Party as well as held a separate gathering for “Legacy Members” to collect photos and conduct interviews.
The event on Saturday kicked off with dinner catered by Jordan’s BBQ from Cleveland, Tennessee. President Ashley Teel and 50th Committee Co-chair Rebecca Hendrix emceed the event. A brief history on the club was given by Momma T (Taylor Watson).
Two new Lifetime Awards were given to Founding Members Don Bodley and Jean Dolan. The Lifetime Award was started prior to 1999 when past officers wanted to recognize outstanding club members. It was sporadic until 2013 when the Board at the time decided to make it an annual event. Past recipients of the Lifetime Award were recognized, including representation to Carol and Uwe Zitzow as they were unable to attend during Paddle School.
Past Officers and past trip leaders were recognized, leaving barely a soul left unrecognized in the crowd, and showing new members how they can serve in the future.
The By-Laws were voted on and put in place, and the 2017-2018 officer elections occurred. A raffle occurred during the event, raffling items for a 50th Merchandise Gift Basket, an Overflow Kayak donated by JD Keener, a Quilt designed by Beth Johnson, and a $50 gift to Rock/Creek.
Rachel Roman and Sue Roman presented the awards for the Hiwassee Race (see separate article). A brief recess was taken for a photo opportunity, and video by John Kern showing 50 years of TVCC’s paddling history was viewed and enjoyed by all. If you’ve not seen the video, check out the link at https://vimeo.com/233073054.
And a very good time was had by all!!!!!!!!!!!!
