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I have used Grumman canoes since the 1940s. In 1947 at 6 years old, I was at summer camp in Hendersonville, NC for 8 weeks with my older brother, age 11 and my cousin, age 10. Back then, young kids went to summer camp and no one was shocked like they are now. My brother and cousin were tasked with taking care of me. One day after lunch, they decided to take one of the Grumman's out on the mountain lake and I went along. No water, pfds or any way to communicate with the camp. There was an outlet to the lake so they decided to see where it went. My recollection is vague but I remember crying and having to be rescued by some pretty angry older camp staff. I guess we dumped and got the canoe pinned and couldn't get it out of a logjam or some such disaster. The camp staff missed us at dinner and noticed a canoe was missing and so were we, so they figured we had drown. It was after dark when they found us. My brother and cousin got into big trouble and had KP for two weeks. I got ice creme and blueberry muffins.

Now at 80, I run a non-profit called Boardman River Clean Sweep in Michigan. We do river cleanups and help other organizations start doing cleanups on their local rivers, too. We have three Grummans along with some OTs and a Mad River that our volunteers use to do cleanups. I use a tandem 15' light-weight that I paddle solo and I really like. It handles well and can carry a lot of trash and I take it when the rest of the "crew" are in kayaks that can't carry much litter. One drawback is that it is so light that a strong headwind or crosswind blows me right off the river and there is not much I can do to stop it.

Whenever I get into my Grumman, I remember that day at Camp Osceolo in Hendersonville and I smile.