2008 Paddle to Work Day: June 19, 2008

For 2008, the 10th Annual "Paddle to Work Day" will be celebrated as part of Take a Stake in the Lakes Days on Thursday, June 19 (rain date Friday, June 20), when people will paddle and row to their places of employment. Those who can't paddle on the 19th should paddle to work any day between June 7 and 22.

One commuter flotilla of many canoes and kayaks will leave from Starkweather Creek at Olbrich Park on Lake Monona (3300 Atwood Avenue in Madison) at approximately 6:30 a.m., picking up fellow paddlers at Hudson Park, Yahara Place Park, Morrison Park, BB Clarke Beach, and arriving at Law Park near Monona Terrace Convention Center at approximately 7:30 a.m.

Send your planned routes and schedules to lakes@co.dane.wi.us or call them in to 224-3764. This information will be shared with other paddlers to facilitate even larger flotillas at many locations!

Additional plans and details for the day will be posted here as they become available.

Paddlers should use their own good judgment about the weather, and not paddle in high winds or lightning. If you do paddle to work, please send an email to lakes@co.dane.wi.us with a short description of your experiences.

Paddle to Work Day, now in its tenth year, was noted in the June 2005 issue of Outside Magazine as one of the reasons Madison and Dane County are ideal locations for outdoor enthusiasts. Take a Stake in the Lakes Days, a program of the Dane County Lakes & Watershed Commission, takes place June 7-22. Its purpose is to focus public attention on our water resources by raising awareness of the importance of lakes, streams and wetlands in our quality of life and of the ways in which our lives affect the quality of our waters.