Corvallis Movie Times

11th annual Paddle Oregon welcomes sunny skies, calm waters and Grand Ronde Tribe

Oversized duffel bags and life vests lay strewn across the parking lot at Crystal Lake Boat Ramp. A rainbow of kayaks and canoes spreads across the grass —bright reds, royal blues and yellows.

The commotion is reminiscent of the movie “Parent Trap,” except this is summer camp for adults.

About 175 participants gathered in Corvallis earlier this week to start the 11th annual Paddle Oregon , a five-day, 105-mile excursion down the Willamette River ending at West Linn on Friday.

The trip is a celebration of the river, and for the first time, the group includes 40 members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde . But Travis Williams, executive director of Willamette Riverkeepeer , hopes it also connects participants with the need to restore the river’s ecology, with lessons about wildlife and vegetation unique to the Willamette.

People living in the Portland area “pass the Willamette River on their way to work everyday, but they haven’t experienced the river upstream,” Williams says.

This year, representatives from the Chintimini Wildlife Care Center of Corvallis will showcase some of their birds of prey. And a speaker from Costa Rica will talk about native birds that can also be found in Oregon.

“People will walk away with a better understanding of what the river system is,” says Williams, who has been part of the event since its inception in 2000. Willamette Riverkeeper, a group focused on preserving the Willamette, organizes the yearly river run.

On Monday, boaters gathered in small clusters as they nibbled breakfast muffins and sipped coffee. They wore sun hats, water shoes and sunglasses. Some clutched paddles and sunscreen bottles.

The Grand Ronde tribe shared a prayer song before getting into the water.

Members hope to embrace their cultural history of canoeing. For tribe member Willie Towner, getting back into the water is particularly important.

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