WANDA CANOE CLUB
C/O Jim Mc Loone
37 Westview Drive
Bergenfield, NJ 07621-3348
Kanoer at gmail.com
WANDA
CANOE CLUB INFORMATION
The
Wanda Canoe club was established around
1900 and now numbers about 40 members. Wanda members have
played active leadership and athletic roles
in the ACA, national, international and Olympic programs.
Today, much of our effort
is in the Marathon program. Mostly
though, we enjoy paddling for fun and fitness, river running, and canoe
camping.
To
facilitate such a varied program the club maintains a small fleet of recreational
canoes
and a few
Olympic
canoes and kayaks, at our Hackensack River boathouse in Ridgefield Park.
These are available
for use by members and their guests. The
warmer months often find some of these boats moved to
the ACA Atlantic Division camp Lake Sebago in the Harriman Interstate Park
where they are sometimes used in competition.
Wanda Canoe Club gave up their cabin in 2006.
Wanda members can enjoy swimming, sailing, non-powered
boating, and hiking at the facility provided that they are also ACA members, or
guests. ACA Camp guest fee
policies apply.
The cruising committee generally runs a white water trip each March,
April, September and October. The
warm months will also have at least one
family rated trip with an occasional white water cruise as an added feature.
Our club has run week long summer cruises in the wilderness of the
Adirondack lakes, Minnesota's Boundary Waters, Ontario's Lake Temagami and
Maine's Allagash Wilderness Waterway and Pennsylvania’s Clarion River, a
mild and scenic river, abutting the Allegheny National Forest. 
From
Memorial Day until Labor Day, Wanda club members meet each Thursday
evening (tide levels permitting) for
fun and fitness cruises
on the Hackensack River. In
addition to these popular cruises, we sometimes do a July 4th
fireworks cruise.
Wanda has sponsored the ACA Atlantic Division Marathon Championships for the past several years
right on the Hackensack River.
Members who wish to train within the Olympic Flat Water discipline will be
able to paddle throughout most of the year.
Potential
members are encouraged to paddle with us at the boathouse or on a cruise.
If you can't do that then visit a couple of our business meetings on
the second Friday of each month. Contact
Helen Yeisley, 201-836-8139 for details. We
generally ask folks to visit with us at least twice before we accept their
application.
Associate cruising membership in Wanda costs $25.00. Active membership is $50.00 for an individual, and $60 for husband and wife. Our initiation fee is $12.00. Although we are no longer an ACA affiliate club we encourage our members to support organized paddling by joining the ACA as individual or family members.
HOW
TO FIND US
From Rt. 46 take the Main St. Ridgefield Park exit and head North. At the second light, (Mount Vernon Street), turn left and go down the hill toward the river. After crossing the tracks, take an immediate right onto Industrial Avenue and look for the DPW property on the left, the equivalent of about three blocks ahead. The Wanda building is behind the Police Pistol Range. With your back toward the street follow the path to the left of the parking lot along the canal, toward the river and around the Wanda Boat-House. Click HERE for an overhead view.
(revised 7/13/08)