Student Sojourners to Get Second Send-Off

Photos by Rick Hiduk

Public officials and supporters of the recent Endless Mountains Heritage Region (EMHR) Student Heritage Sojourn will have another chance to meet adventurous youths from various school districts and wish them “bon voyage” as they launch their kayaks and canoes onto the Susquehanna River on Thursday, June 15.

The paddling portion of the sojourn originally planned in May had to be rescheduled due to high water and persistent rain at that time. Nonetheless, those registered were given the opportunity to spend two nights at Camp Lackawanna in Wyoming County where they engaged in team-building activities and learned about nature and history. (Read about it here: http://www.endlessmtnlifestyles.com/?p=7535)

At 10 am on June 15, EMHR director Annette Schultz, sojourn coordinator and Towanda High School teacher Keith Brown, Bradford County Commissioner Ed Bustin, and others will offer brief remarks at a launch ceremony at Larnard-Hornbrook County Park to which local media and the public are invited.

The students and their chaperons will paddle to the Wysox Public Boat Launch (top), where they will pause for lunch before paddling to French Azilum Historic Site in Asylum Township (above) to camp for the evening. An evening program there will include a history program, storytellers, and opportunities for the students to play music around the campfire.

On Friday morning, June 16, the sojourners will be back on the water, paddling the final 15 miles of their journey to Sugar Run in Wilmot Township.

The student sojourn, Brown explained, is geared to “getting the kids out to realize that there are opportunities available to them locally for learning about nature and how to be good stewards of our resources. I get tired of hearing students say that there’s nothing to do around here.”

Last year, students remarked that, after only seeing the river from the road for so many years, the perspective of roads, farmlands and communities from the river was “eye opening.”

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