On Sunday, I travelled to the Lighthouse River Center in Hampton for the 2nd Annual Paddle and Chowder fundraiser, organized by the Conservation Council’s volunteer board members. I had my fingers crossed leaving Fredericton that the rain would stop by the time we made it!
I had never been to Hampton before so I was glad I didn’t have to drive. Instead, I spent the hour and a half taking in all the sights as we drove through each small community. We were excited to learn upon arrival that there were extra kayaks available from Osprey Adventures, and that my partner and I would be able to take part in the guided paddle through Beamer’s Creek and the surrounding marshes. Just as if on cue, the sky cleared slightly and the sun peeked through. It wasn’t going to rain on us after all!
After suiting up in lifejackets we hopped in our kayak (quite gracefully I may add), and headed out. We travelled under tree branches, around fallen logs and along the meandering creek. On our way back to the center for supper, we saw an eagle keeping watch on us from a nest high above the marsh!
Remember how I said getting into the kayak was so easy? Well getting out proved to be a tad more difficult. A bit of mud and two wet pant legs later, we were out and ready for supper! The Lighthouse River Center was beautiful inside, and as we walked in we were serenaded by musicians Sandy Mackay and Bill Preeper.
There was a silent auction being held during dinner, with items including a hand woven scarf, pottery, homemade salsa and jams, photography, several native plants, and even a small tree constructed entirely out of driftwood! There was also a raffle on a cheesecake that looked completely out of this world delicious, made by Linda Nadj.
The chowder meal was prepared by Jakob Lutes of Port City Royal in Saint John. This restaurant was named one of Canada’s top ten new restaurants by Air Canada enRoute magazine in 2015, and it’s no surprise why! The meal was delicious, and many people, myself included, went back for a second bowl. One of our board members even made cookies for dessert!
After dinner, we heard some exciting news. There were two individuals that took part in the paddle that had been married just the night before! The newlyweds, Tara and Andrew, were lucky enough to win seats in one of the voyageur canoes. We were very happy that they decided to join us! She told me they love to canoe in the area, so when they found out about the event they bought tickets. She also told me that she had graduated from medical school earlier in the week, and that they were travelling to Australia in the coming days – talk about a whirlwind!
At the end of the day, there were over 80 people that came out to support the Conservation Council. We’d like to give a special thanks to all those people, and we hope to see them again next year. Until then, I will be brushing up on my kayaking skills!