Missouri Whitewater Association

2023 Confluence Trash Bash - MWA Conservation
2023-04-08 08:00 - 11:30 (America/Chicago) | MO
2023’s Confluence Trash Bash, Saturday, April 8th, 4 hours! See details on this message board post, Confluence trash bash April 8th – Missouri Whitewater Association
MWA is Stream Team 6414. We will join in to help clean the lower Missouri watershed near the confluence. St. Louis Open Space Council Confluence Trash Bash ~ Spring Clean Ups – St. Louis Open Space Council (openspacestl.org)
Event partners include Great Rivers Greenway, MSD Project Clear, the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Stream Teams, Earthways Center, St. Louis County Parks, and many other community groups across the region.

Site leaders will direct volunteers at locations across the Lower Missouri River watershed, working together to keep our streams and communities free from trash and litter. Gloves and trash bags will be provided and volunteers will receive a FREE t-shirt. This annual clean-up event is open to all ages. Registration will open the last week of February.
To receive notifications, BECOME A FAN of the Confluence Trash Bash page on the Open Space Council volunteer portal at volunteer.openspacestl.org
See Confluence Trash Bash 2023 | Facebook
For more information on how our collective efforts can make a difference, check out the complete Confluence Trash Bash 2022 Report at openspacestl.org/confluence-trash-bash/

See MWA Conservation Report for related details.
Jeff Clages, 636-578-5719 <claegesja@msn.com>

GATEWAY OUTDOOR EXPO - MWA booth
2023-03-31 - 2023-04-01 | Tower Grove Park, 4257 Northeast Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63110, United States
This is a FREE public expo, showcasing the latest outdoor products, services, and resources — plus interactive attractions and demos — all in a festive, family-friendly environment.
MWA will have a booth. Volunteers needed during the 2-day event and for setup Thursday, 29th, contact Jo Newbold.
Learn more about the event on their website.
HOURS & LOCATION

Thursday, March 30 – VIP/Vendor Party at Schlafly Tap Room, 6 pm – 9 pm
Friday, March 31, 10 am – 6 pm
Saturday, April 1, 10 am – 5 pm

TSRA Rendezvous - Cumberland
2023-03-29 - 2023-04-02 | TSRA – Camp Nakanawa, 1084 Camp Nakanawa Rd, Crossville, TN, 38571, United States
Several MWA folk are attending this event for the first time. Join us. Details on this link, Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association – Rendezvous 2023 (paddletsra.org)
Payment to Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association (TSRA). It is their annual Rendezvous – a family-friendly paddling celebration and fundraiser at Camp Nakanawa in Crossville, Tennessee. Designed for paddlers and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels. Paddling trips ranging from Class I flatwater to Class IV whitewater are organized and led by experienced trip leaders. Over five days, groups spill out across the Cumberland Plateau and surrounding areas to tackle their favorite adventures.
Your registration includes cozy accommodations in the camp’s rustic cabins and all weekend activities. Weekend breakfast and dinner meal plan available, $50.
REGISTER NOW! Adult $70; Minor (10-17) $35; Up to 9yr old free. Saturday Only $38.
Info for MWA carpooling, be in touch with Sally Haywood <haywood.sally@gmail.com> or Giovanna Manzella <giovanna.manzella0@gmail.com>

2023 MWC Race Banquet
2023-03-18 18:00 - 21:00 | Fredericktown Eagles Lodge, 411 Burris, Fredericktown, MO, United States
Come join us after the first day of racing for a banquet.
Awards will be given from the Friday Downriver & Saturday Slalom classes after dinner.
Banquet doors open at 6 PM, dinner served at 7 PM.
After on-line sales close, Tickets are sold Saturday at the sales table until the event is sold-out.

2023 MWA Whitewater Championships
2023-03-17 - 2023-03-19 | Millstream Gardens, Ironton, MO, 63650, United States
For more information or to register, visit our race page

SLU Kayak Club Spring Trip, Mar 11-17th- Volunteers Needed
2023-03-11 - 2023-03-17 | Nantahala Outdoor Center, 13077 U.S. 19 West,, Bryson City, NC, 28713, United States
If you can volunteer to be a safety boater, please contact kayak@slu.edu

Wilderness First Aid for Paddlers Course
2023-03-04 - 2023-03-05 | Paddle Stop, 1100 Miller Street, New Haven, MO, 63068, United States
This two-day course immerses participants in basic wilderness medicine procedures, preparing individuals to take immediate action when an outdoor activity doesn’t go as planned and 911 responders are hours away. Time is split between interactive classroom sessions and hands-on field scenarios to prepare participants and help them quickly develop basic backcountry medical care skills. The course focus is on patient assessment, stabilization and emergency treatment of issues such as hypothermia and snakebites, as well as understanding when and how to attempt evacuation. This course includes additional focus for paddlesports, including wound cleaning and closure, as well as the reduction of simple shoulder dislocations. Participants will emerge capable of calmly responding to a wide variety of emergency situations.
All mandatory program supplies and a course field guide are provided by Ozark Safety and Rescue Educators (OSRE) as part of the program cost.
Successful completion of the entire program will result in a three-year nationally recognized Wilderness First Aid Certification through Sierra Rescue International.
We will start promptly at 8am and will be finishing by 5:30pm both days. Please arrive a few minutes early to complete the waivers and paperwork.

Please be sure to dress in clothing that can get very dirty/stained as we will be outdoors repeatedly, and it will likely be muddy and wet! We do use stage makeup, which does not always wash out of clothing well. Basically, prepare to be messy! We will be going outside regardless of weather conditions for practice, so be sure to be prepared! We strongly suggest bringing a folding camp chair (we have found that some folks prefer them, and we may do some classroom sessions outside if it is not raining). We encourage you to bring an old tee-shirt or two to cut up as part of our impromptu supplies practice.

Location Information: Paddle Stop 1100 Miller Street, New Haven, MO.

We strongly suggest bringing a sack lunch OR order food on site both days, as we will only have 45 minutes total for lunch.
The Paddle Stop can sell breakfast (7:30 am), lunch & Saturday dinner. You’re welcome to bring a cooler with your own food / drink, which you consume in the classroom (vs the restaurant). Their Paddle Stop Brewery will likely have live music Sat. night, so feel free to have folks meet you.
There is free, first-come-first serve, rustic camping across the street (with fire rings & picnic tables) or under a pavilion on concrete, with an adjacent bath/shower building. Nearby there are hotels (e.g. Central Hotel and Zia’s) & Airbnb.
Please read the letter sent to registrants and reach out if you have any questions, to Tom about the course; to Sally Haywood for other logistics, haywood.sally@gmailcom, 314-374-9206.

Taught by Tom Burroughs, SwiftwaterRescue@gmail.com, 479-595-1655
ACA Safety and Rescue Committee Chair
ACA L-5 Advanced Swiftwater Rescue Instructor Trainer Educator
ACA L-4 Whitewater Kayak Instructor Trainer Educator
ACA L-4 Whitewater Rafting Instructor Trainer
2015 ACA “Excellence in Instruction” National Award Recipient
ITRA Level 3V Swiftwater Rescue Instructor
NREMT/EMT-W/MPIC – Wilderness Medicine Instructor
Team Leader- Washington CO AR Search and Rescue team
Director, Ozark Safety and Rescue Educators / Clear Creek Paddlesports
Member- Wilderness Medical Society
Cost: $175. Minimum registrants 8 (for course to happen); Maximum 20.
See MWA Training Reimbursement Policy. MWA reimburses for certain trainings with an MWA volunteer commitment expectation. You do need to fill out a web-based reimbursement request after you volunteer.

Military service members or veterans, Team River Runner (TRR) has a grant that will enable them to reimburse you after the successful completion of this course. If interested, please contact Tom Cooke, the StL TRR Chapter Coordinator, at stltrr@teamriverrunner.org or 314-707-0150. Ideally you would use your new skills as a future volunteer with TRR.

Register Now

February Race Meeting
2023-02-12 09:00 - 10:30 | Huddlehouse – Fredericktown, 1261 MO-72, Fredericktown, MO, 63645, United States
Face-to-face (with zoom option) meeting for the 56th Annual Missouri Whitewater Championships (MWC).
All welcome.
Plan to paddle the Saint Francis afterwards.
Questions: <racevolunteer@missouriwhitewater.org> or Mike Leininger <racedirector@missouriwhitewater.org>
Thank you for your help!

St. Francis Clean Up with Stream Team
2023-01-14 | Millstream Gardens, Ironton, MO, 63650, United States
Stream Team 6414, MWA, and Stream Teams united are leading a clean-up on the Saint Francis.
Volunteers needed for access clean up, on-water clean up, and trail maintenance.
Contact Jeff Clawges for more details, claegesja@msn.com, 636-578-5719, or reply to the message board. All are welcome.

January Race Meeting (Hybrid)
2023-01-12 19:30 - 21:00 | Muv, 738 W Port Plaza Dr, St. Louis, MO, 63146, United States
Come join us for our race first meeting of 2023 – in-person at Muv’s (Casara’s) office or on Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84537540171
Getting there:
The best way to get to Muv’s office is to park in the back of the West Port Plaza Complex ( Go under Kobe’s, the road just to the left of Starbucks ) and turn right, park near the 940 building.
Walk through the 940 building and look for the Muv sign right under the brick archway, first door on the right.

January General Meeting
2023-01-10 19:00 - 21:00 | Muv, 738 W Port Plaza Dr, St. Louis, MO, 63146, United States
Come join us for our first meeting of 2023 – in-person at Muv’s office or on Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84537540171
Getting there:
The best way to get to Muv’s office is to park in the back of the West Port Plaza Complex ( Go under Kobe’s, the road just to the left of Starbucks ) and turn right, park near the 940 building.
Walk through the 940 building and look for the Muv sign right under the brick archway, first door on the right.

Fundamentals of Whitewater Kayaking
2023-01-08 17:00 - 20:00 | Mehlville Senior High Pool, 3200 Lemay Ferry Rd., St. Louis, MO, 63125, United States
6 Week Session | Sundays – Jan 8-Feb 19 | 5pm-8pm.
Cost: $100
The Mehlville School District and the Missouri Whitewater Association provide instruction to help build your whitewater kayaking skills. Master the strokes and braces needed to navigate the waters. Learn the components to expertly roll a whitewater kayak with one-on-one poolside instruction. *Kayak, paddle and skirt available for students over 15 years of age.
Registration can be found under Winter/Spring 2023 tab on Mehlville’s Community Enrichment Website
Visit Mehlville’s Website

Open Pool Sessions Start
2023-01-07 15:00 - 17:00 | Mehlville Senior High Pool, 3200 Lemay Ferry Rd., St. Louis, MO, 63125, United States
Pool Sessions are returning to the Mehlville Pool for January & February 2023. 8 weeks of 2-hour pool sessions starting January 7 & 8.
Select either Saturdays 3-5 pm or Sundays Noon-2pm.
Register at Mehlville Community Enrichment (registration is open).
Still looking for volunteers to coordinate each session (Sat or Sun) contact leadership@missouriwhitewater.org if interested.

MWA Annual Holiday Party
2022-12-10 17:00 - 20:00 | Seamus McDaniels, 1208 Tamm Ave, St. Louis, MO, 63139
Celebrate the season with your paddling friends! (Order & pay for your own food & drink.)

November General Meeting
2022-11-08 19:00 - 21:00 | MO
Zoom info:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84537540171
Or Dial-In: 312 626 6799
Meeting ID: 845 3754 0171

Fundamentals of Whitewater Kayaking
2022-10-30 17:00 - 20:00 | Mehlville Senior High Pool, 3200 Lemay Ferry Rd., St. Louis, MO, 63125, United States
6 Week Session | Sundays – Oct 30-Dec 18 | 5pm-8pm
Cost: $100
The Mehlville School District and the Missouri Whitewater Association provide instruction to help build your whitewater kayaking skills. Master the strokes and braces needed to navigate the waters. Learn the components to expertly roll a whitewater kayak with one-on-one poolside instruction. *Kayak, paddle and skirt available for students over 15 years of age
Visit Mehlville’s Website
Click Kayak Classes to view availability and register.

SLU Kayak Club Fall Trip - Volunteers Needed
2022-10-27 - 2022-10-30 | Nantahala Outdoor Center, 13077 U.S. 19 West,, Bryson City, NC, 28713, United States
If you can volunteer to be a safety boater during this trip, please contact: kayak@slu.edu

Kayaking for a day at Drost Park
2022-09-24 12:00 - 16:00 | Drost Park, Maryville, IL, 62062, United States
Come out and Kayak with us for FREE at Drost Park in Maryville IL.
Boats, gear, safety personnel is all provided. You will be assigned an hour during the day to kayak.
There will be a short Safety Orientation, then you will pick a life jacket, a paddle, a boat, and launch onto the lake. Safety boaters will be on the lake to assist you. We have a variety of kayaks for you to chose from and a limited number of paddle boards also. Boaters less than 10 years of age are not allowed to kayak solo. We do have a minimum number of tandems that an adult and child can share. Registration is on a first come first serve basis.

Drost Park is located off Vadalabene Drive, then south on Schiber Court past Alfonzo’s Pizzeria to Myron Provence Parkway which is the park entrance. Visit the website: www.vil.maryville.il.us for a map to Drost Park.

Brought to you by members of the Mississippi River Water Trail, Alpine Shop, St. Louis Canoe and Kayak Club and Team River Runner.

Fundamentals of Whitewater Kayaking
2022-09-11 17:00 - 20:00 | Mehlville Senior High Pool, 3200 Lemay Ferry Rd., St. Louis, MO, 63125, United States
6 Week Session | Sundays – Sept 11-Oct 23 | 5pm-8pm
Cost: $100
The Mehlville School District and the Missouri Whitewater Association provide instruction to help build your whitewater kayaking skills. Master the strokes and braces needed to navigate the waters. Learn the components to expertly roll a whitewater kayak with one-on-one poolside instruction.
*Kayak, paddle and skirt available for students over 15 years of age.
Visit Mehlville’s Website
Click Kayak Classes to view availability and register.

Annual MWA Members Picnic
2022-09-09 - 2022-09-11 | Silver Mines Campground, Highway D, Ironton, MO, 63650, United States
Our annual members picnic will be held at SilverMines Campground – Join us for camping, paddling and fun Friday night – Sunday morning.
Schedule:
Friday night – set up your camp site and join us for a social gathering at the Riverside Pavilion.
The Silver Mines group site is reserved and camping included for all current MWA members.
Saturday – enjoy a float on the Black River – more details to come.
If you haven’t already signed your annual MWA ACA waiver and intent to paddle with us – please sign the waiver here.
Following the float, we’ll have our catered dinner at 6pm at the Silver Mines Riverside Pavilion.
Purchase meal tickets below, online sales will end on 9-6-2022 to help the caterer with headcount.
The MWA Annual Meeting will occur at 7pm after dinner.
Sunday – pack up your camp site and enjoy the morning with your MWA friends, some may go for a hike or another day on the river.

August Training Committee Meeting
2022-08-17 19:30 - 20:45 | Zoom
We will send out the zoom link to all RSVPs.
Any questions, contact training@missouriwhitewater.org

July General Meeting
2022-07-14 19:00 - 21:00 | MO
On Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84537540171
Agenda:

1. Welcome
2. Treasurer report
3. Membership
4. Annual Picnic Update
5. Committee reports
a. Training
b. Safety
c. Technology
d. Float Director
e. Conservation
f. By-laws
6. Call for Secretary and Race Director
7. Week of Rivers report/comments
8. New Business:
a. Finalizing Reimbursement Policy before Annual meeting. Call for ideas
b. Any other new business
9. Close Meeting

MWA Website Commitee Meeting
2022-06-09 18:00 - 19:30 | Muv, 738 W Port Plaza Dr, St. Louis, MO, 63146, United States
Hey MWA!
My name is Casara – your friendly neighborhood webmaster – and there is an ever-running laundry list of things we need to do and things we want to do to maintain and improve this website, it’s more work for one person!
So, I’d love to establish a meeting every other month where we talk about what we want to accomplish and then work on that task or tasks together. Since the general member meetings are on odd months, I’ve decided to do even months: June, August, October, December.

This first meeting will be at my office in West Port Plaza, I will also provide a Zoom link to anyone that would prefer to join remotely.
We will start with introductions, then review the list of items on my radar and open it up to discussion and other ideas.
Then, we can start a project roadmap and get everyone their own local copy of this website to experiment/work with, if you are ready to dive in or interested in taking something on.

All levels of web skill are welcome! You will be working with WordPress, HTML/CSS/JavaScript, PHP and maybe even different server environments.
This will be a learning experience with the ability to experiment, give you a fantastic understanding of UX (user experience) since our website members come from all walks of life and allow you to give back to a community that you enjoy!

If interested, RSVP below or simply shoot me an email: webmaster@missouriwhitewater.org

MWA Annual Spring River Trip
2022-06-03 - 2022-06-05 | MO
For more details, check the message board topic:
MWA Annual Spring River Trip-it’s back!

May General Meeting
2022-05-19 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
On Zoom, RSVP for link

2022 Beginner/Intermediate Whitewater Clinic
2022-05-14 - 2022-05-15 | Silver Mines Campground, Highway D, Ironton, MO, 63650, United States
For more details, visit our clinic page.

Swiftwater Rescue Skills Course
2022-04-22 - 2022-04-24 | Cinco De Mayo Campground, 1042 Hwy H, Farmington, MO, 63640, United States
UPDATED DATES & PRICE!
This SWR course will be two and a half action-packed days of classroom and river education, taught by R.J. Forth.
Friday Eve session starts at 6pm.
Price is $150.
Camping is not included, but you are encouraged to reserve a spot at Cinco de Mayo Campground. Limited upgrades for cabins and bunkhouse available.
Reserve a spot to camp at Cinco de Mayo’s HipCamp page.
Missouri Whitewater Association Board of Directors has approved $100 scholarships to all MWA members who successfully complete the course.
Contact Jojo directly at CincoDeMayoCampground at Gmail.com if you have any questions.

ACA L4 Whitewater Canoe Instructor ReCertification
2022-03-25 - 2022-03-27 | Cinco De Mayo Campground, 1042 Hwy H, Farmington, MO, 63640, United States
Taught by R.J. Forth
March 25-27
The Friday Evening session starts at 6PM, followed by 2 days of classroom and river instruction.
Price is $150.
Camping is not included, but you are encouraged to reserve a spot at Cinco de Mayo Campground. Limited upgrades for cabins and bunkhouse available.
Reserve a spot to camp at Cinco de Mayo’s HipCamp page.
Email Jojo any questions at CincoDeMayoCampground at Gmail.com.

55th Annual Missouri Whitewater Championships (MWC)
2022-03-18 - 2022-03-20 | Millstream Gardens, Ironton, MO, 63650, United States
Spectators are welcome, free to watch competitors from the side of the St. Francis River at Millstream Gardens Conservation Area.
Interested in competing? Visit the competition page. Want to volunteer? Sign up.

Race Set-up (wires)
2022-03-13 10:00 - 14:00 | Millstream Gardens, Ironton, MO, 63650, United States
Stringing gate wires for next weeks races. Will hang some gates for a Slalom Class too. Bring wire cutters, pliers, pocket knife, and leather gloves. Wear sturdy shoes for being on the rocks. Plan to wear bright clothes so you are easily seen across the river. Obviously, dress for the weather.
No experience necessary – we’ll provide hands-on instruction.
