Dear Keith Lascewski, Tom Vollstedt, Kurt
Schubring, and Carla Westcott,
I am the mother of a 12 year old whitewater slalom
paddler. Gwen didn't know what a kayak was, three years ago. Thanks to THE WAUSAU KAYAK
AND CANOE CORP., Gwen was able to practice paddling on whitewater. We live on the Bay of
Green Bay, but we would rather be in Wausau and be able to have our daughter paddle
the water there. The only other options for paddling whitewater slalom courses in our
area, are many hundreds of miles away. Wausau is only a two hour drive for us. The
opportunity to paddle on the Wausau course has helped Gwen to become the top Cadet (15 and
younger) female paddler in the U.S. She is the youngest member of the U.S. Cadet National
Team. She won the Gold medal at the Jr. Olympics in South Carolina this past summer. We
have just returned from the Ocoee Doubleheader where Gwen won the gold medal in her age
group, on the 1996 Olympic course. None of this would have been possible, without the past
opportunities to paddle the Wisconsin River in Wausau. This is where Gwen learned many of
her skills. Gwen attended kayak camps for three years, entered races and several mini
coaching camps on the Wausau course.
Thank you so very much for all of the work,
volunteer efforts and donations that you provide to make it possible for kids like Gwen to
have the chance to make their dreams of becoming Olympians, come true. We hope that there
will be more oportunities to paddle in Wausau in the future. And thank you for the Easter
Camp! Our family will be there, as usual, along with other families of young paddlers. We
will rent hotel rooms,camp sites, eat food in your restaurants, and shop in your stores.
Hopefully, the good people of Wausau will realize that whitewater slalom racing in
Wausau will be good news for them too.
Sincerely,
Vicki Greeley
Green Bay Paddlers United (Secretary)
Costa Rica Rios Aventuras-paddling vacations
(Registration coordinator)
Mom of Gwen Greeley (U.S. top female paddler,
age 15 and under)