Lake Ontario Waterkeepers
Please join me in supporting the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper's work, so we can all benefit and appreciate our Great Lake! Online donations through my giving page are now closed, but if you still want to "help put the Great back into the Lake" your support is welcomed at: http://www.waterkeeper.ca/support/ Thank you!
The main event - the swim crossing:
We plan to leave at 12AM in the very early morning of Friday August 12th (also thought of as the middle of the night on Thursday the 11th) from Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie. The time may vary slightly, give or take, depending on the weather forcast and lake conditions, and if the 11/12th is a complete no go, the storm delay date is 1 week later on August 18/19th. Due to the late hour of our start, we aren't holding a big send off.
This gives us an expected arrival time in Oakville at the east/north side of Coronation Park of late afternoon/evening on the 12th (or 18th). There will be a live link on my website provided & sponsored by Accipiter Radar, which will let you track the crossing and be better able to determine my arrival time. Upon arrival we will be having a short* celebratory gathering in the park and would love for you to welcome us in. I will be thinking of your smiling faces drawing me into shore!
Thank you all for your support! This has been a wonderful adventure. I have learned a lot about myself, about the great support team I have in my life, and about our Great Lake Ontario!
* the crew and I will be very tired, so it will be short, but I encourage you to come and spend some extra time by the Lake!
If you are available to help clean-up after the crossing or to help transport crew to the start or home from the finish, please contact Fiona Lowden at fiona.lowden@cogeco.ca or myself at pryson3@cogeco.ca
We plan to leave at 12AM in the very early morning of Friday August 12th (also thought of as the middle of the night on Thursday the 11th) from Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie. The time may vary slightly, give or take, depending on the weather forcast and lake conditions, and if the 11/12th is a complete no go, the storm delay date is 1 week later on August 18/19th. Due to the late hour of our start, we aren't holding a big send off.
This gives us an expected arrival time in Oakville at the east/north side of Coronation Park of late afternoon/evening on the 12th (or 18th). There will be a live link on my website provided & sponsored by Accipiter Radar, which will let you track the crossing and be better able to determine my arrival time. Upon arrival we will be having a short* celebratory gathering in the park and would love for you to welcome us in. I will be thinking of your smiling faces drawing me into shore!
Thank you all for your support! This has been a wonderful adventure. I have learned a lot about myself, about the great support team I have in my life, and about our Great Lake Ontario!
* the crew and I will be very tired, so it will be short, but I encourage you to come and spend some extra time by the Lake!
If you are available to help clean-up after the crossing or to help transport crew to the start or home from the finish, please contact Fiona Lowden at fiona.lowden@cogeco.ca or myself at pryson3@cogeco.ca
UPDATE: It was amazing to have such support at the start and finish! Thank you to all who came and shared in the incredible adventure. It meant so much to me to have so many people there!!
T-shirt and swim cap sales
- Swim caps are now available for $5
- The final order for the bright orange event T-shirts has been placed. They are $15 each and will get you noticed as well as promoting "helping putting the great back into the lake". I ordered only a few extra, so let me know ASAP if you want one.
Wetsuit raffle
Xterra has donated a Volt wetsuit (value $200) in support of my swim and cause, which will be raffled off. (see their website for details about the Volt wetsuit at http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/
Tickets are for sale at:
$5/ticket
or
5 tickets for $20 (plus get a free "help put the Great back in the Lake" swim cap (value $5))
Draw will be made at the finish* of Melanie's Lake Ontario Crossing (tentatively Aug 12, 2011).
Winner will be contacted by email or telephone (attendance at the draw is not required)...
I'd love for this to get another person into open water swimming or into Lake Ontario as I believe the more recreational use out of our water-holes increases the amount we care about them. If you already have a wetsuit, think about someone you could share your love of open water swimming with...
Note: The winner will be given a code to use to get their "free" wetsuit from Xterra!
P.S. I have a Volt wetsuit :)
* in the case that the crossing cannot be completed, the draw will be as soon as possible after withdrawal from the water
UPDATE: Although the crossing was completed, it was a bit chaotic and the draw was not done at the finish. But on Saturday August 20th at LOST coffee we had the draw and the lucky winner was Andrew Ullock (BMSC, LOST and photographer and pacer on the swim crossing) Congrats Andrew! And thank you to everyone who participated and to Xterra for sponsoring the swim with the wetsuit!
Baby pool
Tickets are for sale at:
$5/ticket
or
5 tickets for $20 (plus get a free "help put the Great back in the Lake" swim cap (value $5))
Draw will be made at the finish* of Melanie's Lake Ontario Crossing (tentatively Aug 12, 2011).
Winner will be contacted by email or telephone (attendance at the draw is not required)...
I'd love for this to get another person into open water swimming or into Lake Ontario as I believe the more recreational use out of our water-holes increases the amount we care about them. If you already have a wetsuit, think about someone you could share your love of open water swimming with...
Note: The winner will be given a code to use to get their "free" wetsuit from Xterra!
P.S. I have a Volt wetsuit :)
* in the case that the crossing cannot be completed, the draw will be as soon as possible after withdrawal from the water
UPDATE: Although the crossing was completed, it was a bit chaotic and the draw was not done at the finish. But on Saturday August 20th at LOST coffee we had the draw and the lucky winner was Andrew Ullock (BMSC, LOST and photographer and pacer on the swim crossing) Congrats Andrew! And thank you to everyone who participated and to Xterra for sponsoring the swim with the wetsuit!
Baby pool
Coach Dave and his wife Sandra Judd (BMSC's A Group) are expecting Baby #2 this summer! In support of my Lake Ontario Crossing and “Helping put the GREAT back into the LAKE” they are hosting a Baby Pool. Guess will include: Date of Birth, Gender of Baby and Weight of Baby (in lbs and oz please!) Winner will be selected first by Date then by Gender, with ties broken by closest weight. 50% of the proceeds will go to the winner, and 50% will go towards sponsoring Mel’s Lake O Crossing Crew (food, hydration, equipment etc.). Baby Judd is expected July 25th and they do not know the gender Cost: $5 per guess, unlimited guesses per person. The last date to give entries will be July 16th or the day the baby arrives, whichever comes first. Guess and payments will be collected in person by Dave or Sandra or by Jenn or John Strang. Please email your guesses to thejudds@cogeco.ca or submit on paper with payment. Guesses are not valid until payment is received. Thank you very much to Dave and Sandra for coming up with this fundraising idea and organizing it!!
UPDATE: Dave and Sandra had their 2nd son on Jul 16, 2011 at 4:06am, weighing 7lbs 14.5oz. They have named him Thomas William Robert. Congrats to the Judd family!!
And congrats to Brittany Draper who won the baby pool! And thanks to Brittany who, I was just informed, has donated her winnings to the swim crossing. The crew will now be fed, thanks to the Judd family, Brittany and eveyone who participated!
Fundraising /social event
You know I like a party, so we held a fundraising event / social on June 25, 2011 at the Bronte Harbour Yacht Club in Oakville. There were games, prizes, a silent auction, snacks, cash bar, music (including my friend Mimi and her band the Highnote Ramblers) and most of all FUN! If you came, thanks for coming, hope you had fun too, if you missed it, we missed you! See my blog about the evening at: http://melaniepriceadventures.blogspot.com/2011/06/fun-raiser-social-event-was-fun.html
Other community events
One of the great side-effect from attempting this swim has been getting involved in some community events:
- Attending Lake Ontario Waterkeeper (LOW)'s 10th anniversary party (Feb 24/11)
- The Tri Club of Burlington (TCOB)'s triathlon fair (Apr 2/11), where I volunteered with BMSC coach Dave Judd and some other BMSCmates to help coach a couple swim session
- YMCA Hamilton (downtown) StrongKids/RBC spin-a-thon (Apr 16/11), where I volunteered with Lee Hart (fellow HAC swimmer when we were younger; and triathlete) to lead a spin session
- Hamilton Aquatic Club (HAC) novice vs the vice-coach (me) (Jun 11/11), where the novice kids swam in a continuous relay while I swam continuously; HAC also made a great GOOD Luck banner which all the kids signed... see the little write-up about it in the HAC newsletter: http://www.hamiltonaquaticclub.ca/June2011-3.pdf
- The day after completing the crossing (Aug 13/11) was the LOST 3.8k open water race in Lake Ontario. As the LOST registrar, I had everything organized for someone to run registration in case I was in no condition to make it, but I had some trouble sleeping (after waking at 4am in a bit of pain), so we made it to registration, and with some great helpers, we managed to get everyone registered and body marked fairly efficiently. The reason I listed this event here is because of what happened next. Rob was holding a contest for the best suggestions for a "celebrity" starter for the race and my friend Anna-Marie P won the wetsuit for suggesting me. So I got to start the LOST race! (P.S. Don't worry, fame won't change me...lol)
- We've been using the boat and/or kayak to volunteer at regular LOST swims and various races, including: the LOST race (Aug 13/11); Mine over Matter off-road triathlon (Aug 28/11); TCoB's Pier 2 Pier swim (Sept 5/11)
- I have been asked to be guest speaker at a banquet this fall... (for me public speaking may be harder then swimming across Lake O, but I don't shy away from a challenge too often (lol)) It will be an honour to share this experience and hopefully inspire a few to dream BIG! (see my blog: http://melaniepriceadventures.blogspot.com/2011/11/hac-banquet-speech.html )
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