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River race 'good local tradition'
Sunday, April 17, 2005
By MICHAEL McAULIFFE
mmcauliffe@repub.com
HUNTINGTON - At about 6 p.m. Wednesday, Rick Boudreau made his way to the banks
of the Westfield River here and chained a canoe to a tree. That way he and
Anthony J. Bertera were in position to be in the first boat in the water
yesterday morning for the 52nd annual Westfield River Wildwater Races, which
continue today.
"It's my duty as a towner," said Boudreau, who lives in Huntington and has
participated in the race every year since 1989, when asked why he competes every
spring.
"Yeah, we can hear the river calling us from our houses," said Bertera, who also
lives in town.
Second in line were another pair of Huntington residents, Christopher J. Gamble
and his wife, Susan K. Kallerges. Gamble was preparing for his 15th consecutive
year in the race.
"It's just a good tradition, a good local tradition," said Gamble, 42, who put
the couple's canoe in place at 5 a.m. Friday. "I grew up around here watching it
as a kid."
Boudreau was scheduled to run yesterday's eight-mile course with Bertera and
then take another run with his 13-year-old son Nathan. For Nathan, next year
turned out to be this year, according to his dad.
"He's been wanting to do it for years, and I keep telling him, 'Next year. Next
year,'" said Boudreau, who also planned to compete in today's expert race, where
the course will be 12 miles long and thousands of dollars in prize money will be
at stake.
Today's expert race begins at 11 a.m. near the Knightville Dam on Knightville
Road off Route 112 in Huntington. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. at the same
spot.
Yesterday's race attracted 180 teams, according to race organizer Jeffrey M.
DeFeo. Today, an estimated 75 to 100 teams were expected the compete in the
expert race.
"The weather's good," DeFeo said yesterday. "It's a good forecast" for today.
The weekend races are sponsored by The Republican and hosted by the Westfield
River Canoe Club.
Yesterday, under blue skies, kayaks and canoes headed down river. Racers had to
make their way around two dams, through white water and over a final stretch of
calm water before reaching the finish line in Russell.
Southwick resident Jay P. Viamari, who participated in the race for the first
time, said the final stretch of calm water took its toll. The racers had not
only already worked most of the course, but they were dealing with a head wind
at the end.
"That tires you out," said the 35-year-old Viamari. "You really got to dig at
the end to keep going."
But Viamari and his partner, Terrance W. Smith, 32, of Ware, said the cheers
from spectators along the banks of the river really enhanced their experience.
"That really adds to it," Smith said. "We're not in it for the competition, but
just more for an enjoyable day out."
Among those watching from the shore were Chester residents Kevin and Debra
Donovan, who stood on the shore near the Hill & Dale rapids in Russell as racers
passed by. A number of racers swiftly moved through the fast-moving white water
here. Others fought their way through the rapids. And a few took a bath they did
not want to take.
Kevin Donovan said that stretch of the river was the best place to watch the
race. Moments later, two men came by in a canoe taking on water. A short time
later, two women went by - in the water and holding onto their canoe.
"If you're going to get wet, this is where you're going to get wet," Kevin
Donovan said.