Scouts brave White River in canoes

— Under the shadow of the Bull Shoals Dam, adventure-seeking Scouts from across the country meet for an event for which some of them have trained all year.

On Thursday, July 29, the 44th National Invitational White RiverCanoe Race, sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America, will begin with more than 30 four- to six-person crews that will take turns paddling, two at a time, in the three-day race. The first leg of the 120-mile relaytype race begins at Bull Shoals, then goes 18 miles to Cotter, where fresh paddlers will get into the canoe and head down river another 15 miles toBuffalo City, where another trade will take the canoes the rest of the way to Norfork. The teams will camp out and begin the next day bright and early. Some teams will paddle 70 strokes per minute.

Camping out in parks along the river, the crews have their sights set on crossing the finish line in Batesville on Saturday, July 31.

Event chairman George Latus of Sulphur Rock said he began working with the event after he had a Scout crew enter the race five years ago.

“I said, ‘Let’s try this thing out,’” Latus said he told his Scout troop. “We had no clue what we weregetting into. We borrowed everything that we took with us.”

Latus said the Scouts borrowed wooden paddles, “horse-collar life jackets” and a canoe out of someone’s backyard. The race was much more challenging, and rewarding, than they had anticipated.

“I saw the sweat; I saw the adrenaline and the agony,” Latus said about his crew, “but I also saw the little flicker in their eyes that said, ‘Hey, we love this.’”

Race director Steve Lynn of London, Ark., first entered the race when he was a Boy Scout.

“I participated in the race as an Explorer Scout back in the 1970s,” Lynn said. “It’s one of the longest-running scouting events in the country, and it’s also one of the longest-running canoe races in the country.”

The race began in 1966 as part of Batesville’s White River Water Carnival as a small event that grew into a huge national competition, Lynn said.

Now second and third generations are competing.

“It’s an event, but what I love about it is, the people who bring these kids have a desire to do this service for the kids,” Latus said. “It’s fun, it’s wholesome, and it’s clean; you don’t have tobe an athlete to do it.”

The race isn’t about earning merit badges or moving up in rank. Latus said the kids who participate build lifelong friendships, and they have this accomplishment in common.

Racers aren’t alone out there, either. The Game and Fish Commission provides safety boats that move along with the crews.

There is also the “old-timers division,” in which adults are in canoes paddling alongside the Scouts to offer assistance or help if needed. A 40-to-50-vehicle entourage also follows the race down the river.

“People all the way down the riverparticipate,” Latus said. “Communities like Mountain View and Calico Rock offer food and support.”

It’s not too late to sign up a crew for the race. Latus said entries will be accepted until 6 p.m. Wednesday, when the teams will meet up at Bull Shoals.

The entry fee is $30 per Scout and includes camping and food. Equipment and boats will be available for borrowing by any team that needs them.

For more information, visit whiterivercanoerace.com or call Latus at (870) 799-3690 or Lynn at (479) 264-1112.

- jbrosius@ arkansasonline.com

Three Rivers, Pages 54 on 07/22/2010

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