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Queens of the River: Blazing Blue Herons Canoe Team
GSCCC’s award-winning Blazing Blue Herons canoe team had a busy spring and summer. In April, the team kicked off their race season at Bennett’s Creek in Suffolk with a 6.2 mile race. Ten girls and two alum paddled the course; they used this race to prepare for the the 50th anniversary of the Girl Scout races at the General Clinton Canoe Regatta, an annual race for Girl Scout canoeing enthusiasts that takes place over Memorial Day weekend in Bainbridge, New York.
Our Girl Scouts competed in the regatta on Saturday in cold and rainy weather. Canoers raced and had fun in several categories. Highlights included the 15-mile relay team of Valentina G., Cailyn Y., Katie K., and Ava C. who finished 2nd, and the 15-mile Endurance Race team of Allie M. and Lilah F. who finished first to earn the title of Queens of the River!
The day after the Girl Scout races, the team had five competitors enter the 15-mile Women’s Stock Aluminum Race on the Susquehanna River. Girl Scout alum Isabella Gonzalez and Charlotte Elgin finished 4th and Beth McCardle-Blunk and Kayleigh Adamson finished 6th.
Just days after returning from New York, the team took part in the Rivanna River Race in Charlottesville where Blue Herons Katie K. and Cailyn Y. were the top youth to finish in the 6.2 mile race. Then it was off to Fredericksburg to compete in the Rappahannock River Races. The last race for the season was the Beaverdam Canoe Jam in Gloucester, Virginia, where Allie M. and Ava C. finished 2nd overall in the short race.
The Blazing Blue Herons also participated in community service; in June they concluded their season with a last canoe day at Camp Apasus in Norfolk and then partnered with the REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) of Virginia Beach for a camp clean-up day. They collected 271 pounds of trash along the waters at Camp Apasus. The trash collection included an oar, garbage can, Tupperware, hard hat, toy golf club, bike pedal, sneaker, recycle bin, and an ornamental squirrel!
Learn more about this incredible team, other special interest and high adventure groups, and how Girl Scouts in 7th grade and up can get involved at gsccc.org/clubs.
