Organizers getting ready for 58th Annual Manchester Canoe and Kayak Race!
2024 Canoe and Kayak Race T-shirt design by Kellie Bambach.
submitted by 58th Annual Canoe Race Planning Team
The 58th Annual Manchester Canoe and Kayak Race is almost here! The 2024 race date is Sunday, May 19. If you did not sign up online, please know that you can still sign up the morning of the race beginning at 11am near the start line (Fellows’ Bridge on Sharon Valley Rd about two miles west of Ace Hardware).
Congratulations go to Kellie Bambach, the winner of the T-shirt design contest! Her fun design ties together the race and Manchester’s other long-held tradition of the Chicken Broil. She had the choice of a gift card to any Manchester business as a prize and chose River Raisin Distillery.
The race planning team is grateful that Washtenaw County Parks continues to be a sponsor of this race. While they have run into some challenges, they are continuing to work hard to fulfill the plan of a livery at Sharon Mills. This will be a wonderful boost for Manchester businesses and will help make a longer stretch of the River Raisin more accessible.
The river cleanup has been largely taken on by the owners of River Raisin Distillery, Krista and Joe Jarvis. Kate Austad has also helped every time the team went out. Jim Mann also continues to be generous in his help and sharing of land, time, and equipment. If you see them in town, give them a special thank you for their tireless efforts of making the river enjoyable for not only this race, but also the community and those who travel here to visit our beautiful stretch of the River Raisin.
It takes a village to make an event like this happen. Many local businesses gave generous sponsorships and will be noted on the back of the race T-shirts; thanks will be given to all in a Mirror ad after the race and a few other forms of media. Gratitude also goes to the Manchester FIRST Robotics Teams #6081 and #11193, the City of Manchester, and previous organizers for their efforts in keeping this event happening in Manchester. Holcim Aggregates was very generous this year in donating a 20” Stihl chainsaw to help with the river cleanup and is providing a few volunteers and lunch for start-line volunteers. Sharon Church kindly offered to provide water and snacks for the finish line workers. SteeleGrafix is always wonderful in their quick turnaround of nice shirts. Chelsea HAM Radio continues to help support communications. The landowners near the start line continue to be gracious with the sharing of their land. The Boy Scouts are helping again with canoe rentals. Ace Pyro is generously installing the temporary floating dock again that worked so well for the take-out last year. It truly takes a village and the planning team is grateful for all of the support.
The future forecast is looking to be 70 degrees on race day! Whether the day is sunny and beautiful or wintry weather as in some past years, it’s always a fun day in Manchester. We hope to see you there!
If you have any questions about the race, please email firstrtm@gmail.com. You can also follow and message on the Facebook page — Manchester River Raisin Canoe Kayak Race.
Photo from 2023 Canoe and Kayak Race.
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