The festival starts on May 4. The slalom course gets set up on May 4 for clinics on Sunday and they will stay there until May 11. The Board contemplated leaving them up until May 18, but in order to do so someone has to volunteer to pull them down the weekend of the 18th. If you want to volunteer please let Ted Krings know.

Weekend of May 4-5

Junior Clinic - May 4; the content will resemble the clinic at the August picnic. Minors' parents must sign a waiver and Russ Gregory must receive it BEFORE May 4. Juniors under 7 years old must be accompanied by a parent in a boat. The parent should plan on being safety support for the child. Meeting place will be at TJ Bridge, registration at 9am, on the river by 10am. The participant must provide all equipment, including PFD and helmets. The clinic cost will be $15 per person plus $5 ACA insurance if you are not a member of ACA (please provide your ACA number if you are a member). You must be a member of AWC to participate in our clinics.

Gear Swap/Potluck - The club has reserved the Orvilla Verde pavilion for May 4. There will be a gear swap at 4pm, so bring your old gear and your checkbook to pay for the gear that you can't leave behind. There will be a potluck dinner at 6pm. The area around the pavilion is available for camping the night of the 4th.

Pancake Breakfast - A very special event also takes place Sunday morning, May 5. The Dixon Fire Department has its annual pancake breakfast. This is the department's major fundraiser and we would like to encourage everyone to support them. Several of our members stopped by last year and reported that the name understates the event. They had all-you-can-eat pancakes, hash browns, eggs, bacon, orange juice and coffee. Adults are $3.50 with a discount for juniors and seniors.

Beginner/Intermediate Clinic - The May 5 clinic is for Beginner and Intermediate boaters (canoe and kayakers). The participants will be working on stroke refinement, quality precision boating maneuvers and technique improvement. Depending on participants' progress there may be work at the slalom gates. The meeting site will be Quartzite; registration at 9am, on the river by 10am. Participants must provide all equipment, including PFD and helmets. Clinic cost will be $15 per person plus $5 ACA insurance if you are not a member of ACA (please provide your ACA number if you are a member). You must be a member of AWC to participate in our clinics. If you have any questions, contact Russ Gregory.

Weekend of May 11-12

Marathon Race - May 11; registration 8am at the County Line access, race starts at 9am. Recreational and racing class boats will race down 6.5 miles of Class II river from the Taos-Rio Arriba County Line Access. Take-out is the gauging station south of Embudo Station. This race is well suited to beginners as well as to experienced racers. Boaters are divided into boat classes (canoe, kayak, C-1, racing kayaks, inflatable kayaks, etc.) depending on number of participants and experience levels. Shuttle is run prior to the start of the race. Registration fee is $10 per boat.

Raft Race/Wildwater - May 11; registration 10am, race starts at 11am. Race starts at BLM Quartzite Access and finishes at the Taos-Rio Arriba County Line Access. The raft race is a downriver race in 5 miles of Class I-III river plus a skills test at the take-out for reduction of run time. The raft race will occur only if the water level is at least 400 cfs. The registration fee for the raft race is $20 per boat. The wildwater race is a canoe and decked boat downriver race through 5 miles of Class I-III whitewater. The registration fee for the wildwater race is $10 per boat.

Slalom Course - May 11; warm-ups will start at 10am. Registration will start at noon and the race will start at 1pm. The course will be a short course that has proven very challenging to even experienced boaters. However, certain gates are left out for inexperienced boaters and canoeists. Gates are set in Class II-III whitewater at Albert's Falls in the "Racecourse" section. (1.5 Miles south of Pilar, NM on Hwy 68.) Junior, Novice, Intermediate and Expert classes will be offered for K-1s (including a class for short boats) and Open and Decked Canoes. The more difficult gates will be eliminated for Juniors, Novices and possibly Open Canoes. Registration fee is $10 per boat.

All participants are required to provide their own boating equipment including specifically PFDs, helmets. Boaters and rafters should carry appropriate safety equipment including throw ropes.

Food Sales - May 12, 7am - 12 noon the Pilar Yacht Club is donating all proceeds from sales of hot food/pastries and drinks to Adobe Whitewater Club. The sponsors are Eva Behrens and Rico Salazar at The Pilar Yacht Club. Please stop by and get some great food and support AWC at the same time!

Help Needed! As usual we are pulling this together with volunteer labor and have plenty of small jobs that new volunteers can help with. We have had folks sign up to chair the race events and some of the support roles (publicity, finance) but still need help. Please call any of the club's Board members if you are able to help either with organizational tasks or race weekend support.