I thought it had been forever since I had posted, but after visiting the blog, saw that I posted like two weeks ago. So, I guess it has been forever. Turns out blogger decided to change the look of things on the edit pages too, it took me a while to figure out how to post.

Let me begin with talking about having a PBS crew out to do filming for a series of theirs. O.M.G. how awesome! They were great, they were a small crew of three, but they pack a punch. We put Tom, the host and producer, in a banana boat and made the poor man paddle up and down up and down up and down all over the Teche near New Iberia City Park and then had a lil crawfish boil for them. It turned out really good, and the crew paid us lots compliments on our performance for putting things together.

And then, we opened early registration by emailing out the registration to packet to all TDT I and II veterans. My email, info@tourduteche.com, was hitting a lot of spam filters, so we straightened a lot of that out over the last two weeks. And had a great turnout of veteran paddlers register, deadline for early registration was postmarked/emailed/faxed in today.

General registration opened today, it's gonna be a fun five months for this little girl, but bring it on. Throw as many registrations as you can my way, I dare you to overload me. ;) Fees are $125, $80, or $60 per paddler, depending on which race you register in.

We've also been talking about other projects to add to the Tour du Teche repertoire (I know, I know, but wait for the announcement, it's gonna be so much fun), some of which include shorter paddle races.

And then of course, we also released the new website. Please visit it. www.tourduteche.com. There you can see all of the rules, regulations, schedule, get a registration packet, check out pictures, or write me an email. It's super cool.

Register for TDT III, the big ole party on water. :)

TDT Veteran paddlers and coureurs des bois just got their registration packets emailed to them! Can't wait to see who's coming back this year! 20% discount to those who register prior to April 30!!! I plan on having a busy week!

Plus check out the new website!! www.tourduteche.com!

TOUR DU TECHE RELEASES NEW WEBSITE

Bayou Teche, La. – Tour du Teche is proud to release its new website: www.tourduteche.com.

The website features the main race, sponsors, Petite TDT, projects, photos, links and more. Tour du Teche is proud to have had WORK AGENCIES, Bram and Jillian Johnson, create the website. It features great technology to keep paddlers, spectators, and press alike up to date on developments along the Bayou Teche.

###

Tour du Teche is made possible by these TDT III Major Sponsors: Teche Federal Bank and Teche News.

Okay, we have things finalized for when the WLAE crew comes around. We have a start point at the Belle Place Bridge and we'll do the big loopy part near New Iberia and finish in New Iberia City Park. Yesterday I worked on finishing all kinds of things on my list, worked on ditty bags, and ordered T-shirts and jackets. I'm so close to being caught up with everything it's scary. I'm also getting in registrations for the Great Bayou Teche Dog Paddle, if you haven't yet and want to participate, send in your registration, right now you should be able to get them on the Teche Project website or just send me an email and I'll send you one.

In other good news, I received word that Andre Pellerin, Dennis Wise and Brad Rex participated in the Colorado River Ramble last weekend. I was going to wait to see if they posted results, but could find anything, so I'll post what I know now:

Andre and Dennis took first in class -- I'm going to assume they were paddling the C2.

And Brad took second in class -- I'm also going to assume that he was paddling his K1.

Thanks for representing TDT so well guys!

If you have any news of how you're doing in races, let me know so I can toot your horn on here!

Announcing the Inaugural Great Bayou Teche Dog Paddle from Breaux Bridge to Parks!

The registration packet will be uploaded to the news section of the Teche Project website as soon as a formal press release has been put together and uploaded there as well. In the meantime, if you want to register, just shoot me an email at info@tourduteche.com and I'll send a packet your way.

I'll be happy to answer any questions anyone might have! All the proceeds from this event will benefit the St. Martin Parish Animal Services!

I will also upload the press release here once finished!

Check this out!!!

http://www.techetoday.com/view/full_story/17801752/article--Cajuns--call-for-St--Pat-s-Day-cleanup?instance=home_news_lead

This week has been something wonderful. I have had 4 really productive days so far. Tuesday, I organized all of our TDT stuff, (shirts, caps, brochures) and got our invoices taken care of. I wrote a story about our fabulous TDT racing team!! That should be in the paper next Wednesday. Yesterday, I got allllll our stuff together for the permits!! And mailed them off today! Which gives it plenty of time for us to get our permits for the doggie paddle, PTDT, and TDT! We also met with our parish Tourism directors and are getting the ball rolling for the ditty bags, advertising for registration, anddd a cool new application for phone users. We aren't too sure about which route we'd like to go. But, as the details unfold, I'll let you know, should be fun!

Okay, and we're back at the intergalactic offices of the Tour du Teche with results from this weekend's Battle on the Bayou.

We did BEAUTIFULLY!!

Here are our results:

In K1 Long:

Denise D'Abundo finished in 2:01:25, 37th overall, and 2nd in class.

Susan Orgeron finished in 2:06:46, 51st overall, and 4th in class.

The results on the BOTB say that Topher Tape's finish is questioned, I don't know what that means, but I know I have a standing from our Awards show correspondents on a tablet at home. I will update his standing later tonight.

In K2 Unlimited:

Brad Rex and Robin Lashway finished in 1:35:24, 4th overall, and 2nd in class. (I was pulling up at the finish point just as they were pulling their kayak out of the water... they beat me to the finish line and I was in a CAR!)

In K2 Rec:

Terry Ginn and his son Tyler finished in 2:14:32, 67th overall, and 5th in class.

Frank Pellerin and Conrad Pellerin finished in 2:46:28, 128th overall, and 8th in class.

Monise Dupuis and Carson Pellerin finished in 2:47:46, 131st overall, and 9th in class.

Will Cordon and Peyton Pellerin finished in 2:51:53, 136th overall, and 10th in class.

John Davis and his daughter Hayden finished in 2:57:59, 143rd overall, and 11th in class.

Paula Davis and Jessica Turner finished in 3:02:45, 149th overall and 12th in class.

In C1 Unlimited:

Ken Grissom, DNF (Paddlers had to go south into headwinds past a point on a little island, then head north upstream to The Shed, Mr. Ken made it to the point but couldn't turn his boat because the winds were acting against his boat not allowing him to turn it and were pushing water into it. Any kind of momentum he would get to turning the boat made him flip over. He then swam to the shore of the little island and began bailing all of the water out of his poor canoe. The wonderful Sheriff's department came to his aid and helped him bail the boat, get back in and gave him a lift to a little opening to get back to the start point. They called Ms. Debbie to go back for him after being concerned he would get hypothermia. We went pick him and his boat up and got a nice warm change of clothes. He showed up to work this morning and he looks like he's doing fine, he says he's a little embarrassed, but we're just glad he didn't get hurt or sick!)

In Custom Boat:

Team Pont Breaux, a 4 man team consisting of Andre Pellerin, T-Mike Hebert, Dennis Wise, and Mike from Anytime Fitness finished in 2:15:15, and 71st overall. (These guys flipped the boat about 4 times, from what I understand. They showed up at the finish line soaked and frozen with a slight change in crew. T-Mike got on the Coast Guard boat when he realized the boat was just going to keep flipping, one of Andre's triplets, I think it was Peyton, climbed into the 4 man boat and Mike from Anytime Fitness climbed onto the banana boat with Will. Again, we're just glad that no one got hurt or sick. Brrr it was cold out there.)

We had 12 boats representing TDT and they did an AWESOME JOB!! This cheerleader couldn't have been more proud! The weather was very overcast and the temps hovered in the mid to upper 50s and the wind blew around 20 mph. It made for a very cold, tough race!

I'd like to also send out a SUPER SHOUT OUT to the Battle on the Bayou organizers and thank them for their hard work, I know it ain't easy! And also thank them for letting us pass out our rack cards and tell people about how awesome our Tour du Teche is. I hope we get to see some Battle on the Bayou people out our way in October promoting it to our racers!!

Also, if you're going to the Buffalo Bayou Regatta this weekend in Houston, keep and eye out for Brad Rex and Robin Lashway, and Andre Pellerin, I know for sure all those guys are going to be out there! Best of Luck, I'll let you know how they do next week!!

P.S. I will also post pics from this weekend later tonight!

The boats are at the put in point and they're on their way to drop off the trailer at the endpoint. We're getting ready to rock!!

Updating from the iphone now, we ate just about ready for the battle on the bayou. As of last rough count looks like we'll have 12 or 10 TDT boats in the race. Wooo hooo! I'll keep you posted on the progress of our paddlers and how they finish!

This was shared with me, now I will share it with you: http://globalsurfski.se/training-concepts-for-paddlers/

Not much to say today, getting prepared to leave for Battle on the Bayou tomorrow. Will post pictures either from the hotel tomorrow night, or on Sunday afternoon! Looking forward to it!!!

-Nicole

Happy Leap Year!!! February 29, 2012!!!

Enjoy the day and do something fun you wouldn't ordinarily do on any of the other 365 days a year.

Looks like Doggie Paddle registration will open on Friday (March 2) and close on March 30. We are still on the fence about what the sussie will be, but we've set our minds to $25. All of the proceeds of the event will benefit the SMP Animal Services!!

I got the insurance for all three of our events last week. This week I will try to put them in the mail to their respective owners.

Everything is set for the doggie paddle. I think Michelle and I are hoping to open early registration at the end of this week :0 ... or maybe sometime next week. This should be a fun fun event and it supports a good cause. I'll post more specifics tomorrow on how much and when. But, it will definitely be Sunday April 22, Earth Day and it will definitely be from Breaux Bridge to Parks. I know All-O-Cajun DJ services will be providing us some FREE music!! And there will be like microchipping, etc. So if you aren't into paddling, come join the fun in the park anyway. It will be an ALCOHOL FREE event!!

And this weekends big news!! We had wonderful showings at two races this weekend!!
This is a listing of the results from the Town Lake Race Series IV (I bolded the TDT names that I recognized -- this race happened Sunday):
Handicap Results

Russel Adams 1:10.35 Rec Solo
Budy Hudson 1:1039 Rec Solo
Ian Rolls 1:11.52 PRS
Debbie Richardson 1:12.04 Mohican
Mark Addison 1:13.17 Fast K1
Jeff Glock 1:13.36 C1
Kyle Mynar 1:13.38 C1
Johan Dahl 1:14.55 Fast K1
John Baltzell 1:14.56 Fast K1
Mike Pritulsky/Doug McCoy 1:15.20 Tandem Aluminum
Joy & Ginsie 1:15.21 Female C2
Bob Spain 1:15.29 C1
Shelia Reiter 1:15.37 SU
Phil Bowden 1:17.29 SU
Mike Brooks 1:17.41 OC1
Maria Shelton 1:18.00 Rec Solo
Hoang Pham 1:18.09 OC1
Drost & Glos 1:18.24 Tandem UN
Cody Ackerman 1:18.45 C1
Lilly & Gaston Jones 1:18.51 C2
Mike Gordan 1:19.00 SU
West Hansen 1:19.36 C1
Ed Jones 1:19.41 PRS
Nathan Tart 1:19.56 C1
Andrew Pellerin & Mike Herbert 1:21.01 C2
Lindsay Stillman 1:21.09 PRS
Stuart Berthiandme 1:21.17 OC1
David Carson 1:21.18 Solo rec
Mike Rendon 1:22.10 Ski
Morris Paillet 1:22.48 K1
Erin Magee 1:23.02 K1
Chuck Zeugn 1:23.46 Rec Solo
Will Myers 1:24..03 Ski
Garret & Trey Jones 1:24.18 Rec Tandem
Chris Chandler 1:24.24.45 F Rec Solo
Edmonson/Woodward 1:24.45
Brad Rex 1:25.37 K1
Justin McGuire 1:27.13 Oc1
Nancy Bowers 1:27.14 PRS
Curt Slaten 1:28.29 SU
Max Hambly 1:29.57 C1
Susan Dageron 1:32.42 Sea kayak
Michael McGuire 1:33.25 SU
Chock Hawala/Stambaugh 1:34.39 Rec Tandem
Stephen Mack 1:56.00 C1

Actual Time

Mark Addison 49.57
Johan Dahl 50.55
John Baltzell 50.56
Mike Rendon 1:00.10
Drost/Glos 1:00.24
Morris Paillet 1:00.48
Phil Bowden 1:01.29
Ian Rolls 1:01.52
Will Myers 1:02.03
Mike Gordan 1:03.00
Brad Rex 1:03.37
Jeff Glock 1:04.36
Kyle Mynar 1:04.38
Debbie Richardson 1:06.04
Bob Spain 1:06.29
Erin Magee 1:07.07
Mike Brooks 1:07.41
Lilly & Gaston Jones 1:07.51
Hoang Pham 1:08.09
Sheila Reiter 1:09.37
Cody Akerman 1:09.47
Joy & Ginsie 1:10.21
Andrew Pellerin/Mike Herbert 1:10.01
Russel Adams 1:10.35
West Hanson 1:10.36
Budy Hudson 1:10.39
Ed Jones 1:10.41
Nathan Tart 1:10.56
Stuart Berthiandme 1:11.17
Curt Slaten 1:12.29
Mike/Dave 1:13.20
Lindsay Stillman 1:15.09
Justin Mcguire 1:17.13
Michael McGuire 1:17.25
Maria Shelton 1:18.00
Max Hambly 1:20.57
Nancy Bowers 1:21.14
David Carson 1:21.18
Garret and Trey Jones 1:22.18
Susan Dageron 1:22.42
Edmonson/Woodward 1:22.45
Chuck Zeugn 1:23.46
Chris Chandler 1:24.45
Hawala/Stambugh 1:32.39
Stephen Mack 1:47.00

And these are the results for the Battle on the San Jacinto (This race happened Saturday -- and again, I bolded TDT names that I recognized):
Solo Unltd:

Mark Addison 39:05 1st mens
Tommy Yonley 39:44
Brad Pennington 40:35
ChristianMassow 40:40
Nic Coute 43:20
Jacquo Odemaere 44:48
Murray Hunkin 45:06
RD Kissling 45:20
Richard Ameen 46:50
Morris Pallet 47:00
Dennis Palin 49:51
Charlie Stewart 50:55
Haung 54:56
Grady Hicks 56:59
Jim Stevens 59:45
Nancy Bowers 1:02:00 1st women
Robert Rollen 1:03:00

Tandem Unltd:

Morgan Kohut - Gary Kohut 1st mixed : 45:13
Robin Lashway -Brad Rex 1st mens 47:46

C2:

Bob Spain - Joy Emshoff 50:01 1st mixed
Mike Herbert- Andre Pellerin 54:22 1st mens
Steve Unreh- Jonathan Fessendren 59:30

Rec Canoe aluminum:

Frank Grey - Hau Pham 1st 56:40

Recreation solo:

Russell Adams 1st mens 56:09
Mike Butler 1:04:11
Susan Orgeron 1st women 1:05:02
Rich Schwalbach 1:09:21
Luz Paillet 1:09:43
Lydia Westbrook 1:10:04

WOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Way to represent Cajun Country guys!!!!!!

THIS WEEKEND!!! We are sooo pumped to be going out to the Battle on the Bayou!! I'm REALLY looking forward to meeting more racing friends and letting them know about the BEAUTIFUL Teche country that we have to share!!!

If you are paddling in a race, I would LOVE to keep up with your progress!! So PLEASE let me know when you are paddling and let me know how you do, so I can BLOG about it and tell everybody how awesome TDT paddlers are!!!!

:)))

That's a picture of me from the dress rehearsal at the Rotary Ball this past weekend. It was such a fun time, I just had to share. Thanks to Ms. Gini McKain for such and awesome picture!

Yesterday, I talked to the Mayor of Parks and we are ONNN for the doggie paddle. He's excited and so are we! The event will begin at about 9 am and paddlers and their dogs will paddle from the launch in Breaux Bridge to the launch in Parks. Once there, there will be microchipping, grooming, a DJ (All O Cajun DJ Services has donated his services! Thanks SOOO Much!) food, drink and much more! All of the proceeds from the event will benefit the St. Martin Animal Services!

Wooo! Matter of fact, Mr. Ken took his dogs, Lola and Sam, out for a paddle and he said they were more scared than they knew what to do with. Check em out in the picture.

All the insurance has been applied for and most of the applications have been filled out for our permits. Once I finish getting all the nitty gritty things together, I'll send them off. Permits should be had soon. Insurance too. Woooo!

I've also heard from the Evangeline Downs Hotel about special TDT rates!!! Here's what they have to say: "We would love to be the featured Opelousas accommodation for the 2012 Tour du Teche event. We would like to offer a special rate of $79 plus tax for any participants that reserve a room at the Evangeline Downs Hotel by May 31st. Between May 31 and August 31, we will offer a special TdT rate of $89 plus tax, and $99 for reservations made in September up to October 3. These rates would be valid for the nights of October 3rd and 4th, to accommodate anyone that would be arriving early for the start on October 5."

If you want to get in touch with them to secure these rates, call them at 337-407-2121.

Wooooo hoooooo! Things are coming together!!

I've been a little off the blog lately, again sorry for that. Buttt, this Saturday I will be the queen of the Rotary ball. I'll be Queen Rotary Ann 66 and representing Marie Antoinette. Oooh La La right? But anyways, this week, I've pretty much gotten all of the permit applications together and ready to send off. And, started working on a new and improved driving directions. Looks like the maps are just about ready to go. We just have to double check most of the coordinates.

Friday is the dress rehearsal for the ball and Saturday is the real thing. I've never been to a ball, much less been a queen. So this has been a pretty eventful week for me. I've got a beautiful gown, complete with mantel. I am borrowing a crown from Mr. Ray and Ms. Susan, I bought a sceptor. I have lots of sparkly jewelry. And, I'm getting really excited. I'm trying to just relax and take it all in. I love the carnival season!

I got the go ahead this weekend to proceed with the stickers for Mr. Ray's trailer, so I'll be getting together with our local vinyl guy to get the sticker made and ready.

Also got the ball rolling on the new website. Should have something rolling in a couple of weeks. :)

Wrote lots of stories today and accomplished a lot. Tomorrow, I'll pull out the old timeline and see what I haven't done in the month of January, and get crackin.

Oh and it looks like the Chitimacha checkpoint will be at the same boat launch for TDT III. So the only change to checkpoints/rest stops for TDT III will be in St. Martinville and that's just that you're paddling down an extra mile to where the party is.

Ned says... 249 days left til TDT III.... sigh.. how quickly time passes.

See you in October.

I tried to do stuff today, really I did, but I didn't accomplish diddly squat. So, now I'm cleaning my desk. :)

But really, stopped in at Kiwanis de Pont Breaux meeting this morning, got Mr. Ray hooked up with Google Latitude, it's looking like that's going to be our positioning platform, until we find something better for the same price.

Stopped in at Bayou Teche Experience and saw the progress that Cory's making on the remodel of the Old Ice House, it's gettin there. I think they said he was projecting to open in the new place officially in February. Woohoo! He's got his kayaks, and my canoe, so if you wanna rent one, stop by and visit him. :)

Came to work, and TRIED to do stuff allllll morning, but nothing would come together. I DID successfully eat lunch and put $20 of gas in my truck. Ha!

This afternoon, took a nice lil walk to the Evangeline Oak, the site of the party on Friday night. Lookin good.

I think we've also confirmed using Bayou Teche Experience's airstream trailer for our rolling command center! Woop Woop!

Okay, back to cleaning my desk, but with today's luck, it'll be worse off than when I started. ;)

Did all kinds of stuff today. Mostly finished putting together rack cards for display in racks across the state. I'll put em in the mail tomorrow. Thought about working on other stuff, not much time. Tomorrow, I'll design a couple stickers and stuff for the trailer and put together some other stuff. I'll let you know more later.

Oh, and as I'm thinking about Find My Friends, I noticed today that, it doesn't work with non iOS 5 phones. So that may be a problem. I'll look into other options and keep you posted.

-Nicole

Wrote LOTS of stories today. Yesterday we started playing around with the Find My Friends app for iPhone. We are looking for someone with an android that would be willing to let us stalk them for a few days to see if we can get these two apps to work together. Specifically, it would be wonderful if we could stalk you and you would paddle in some body of water. :)

Tomorrow, I'm planning on finishing up the mailouts for our rack cards and putting those in the mail. And designing some stickers for Mr. Ray's trailer that will be pulling all the boats we're taking to Battle on the Bayou. If you're interested in coming, shoot me an email, I have reigstration forms on hand.

Did talk to someone about bumper stickers today. I'm going to probably get some of that going tomorrow too. But, I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow.

In hindsight, I'm noticing today was quite productive. I talked to Mr. Archie about our trophies for Voyageur boats, Mr. Ray and I figured out a cheap way to track canoes using smart phones and ipods. And, when I say cheap, I mean free. We're still in the trial stages with it, but we downloaded the app on our phones and he followed the dot that was my phone as I walked in circles around his house. :) So, more when this is all figured out. We also talked about putting up these lil dots up on a big screen outside of our mobile command center. TDT III will be awesome!!

I also found out how much it's going to cost for the swag that I'm thinking about getting to give away at the dog paddle. Also going to make a few contacts for that tomorrow. Things should be almost together. Woof Woof! Support the puppies!!

We are going to Battle on the Bayou in Ocean Springs, MS on March 2 & 3. If you need a registration form, let me know, I can get one to you. We are planning on having a blast!!

Didn't accomplish much today. (If you didn't know, I'm also a reporter/photographer for our local newspaper.) I had lots of stories to write and my words were all mixed up. So I tried and tried and tried to work on stuff and didn't accomplish much.

Tomorrow is a new day! Oh happy day!!

Ok, so it's been a week. Woops, sorry for that.

I can't give you a day-by-day account of everything that happened this week but here are some of the hilights. (SP?)

We signed the new Articles of Incorporation today, so those will soon be in the Secretary of State's office. I've also done some work to get us a website built and we'll be proceeding with that on Monday. We've also officially welcomed Mr. Trey Snyder onto our Board of Directors, he will be a valuable part of the Three Amigos that keep me fluffed and excited to make sure that my job gets done. Thanks Trey for joining our board!

We are preparing to visit the Battle on the Bayou race in Ocean Springs, MS. It's March 3. I'll be going out there with some rack cards and some more information on the race. And, I hope to make some new friends with the organizers of that race, maybe I'll be able to give them an extra hand if they need it. :)

We've also been rolling with the Bayou Teche Dog Paddle. That'll be a float down the Bayou from Breaux Bridge (the checkpoint) to the park in Parks (the rest stop) with favorite barking four legged friends. If you don't have a four legged friend, you can totally borrow one from the shelter. It will be on Aprill 22nd (that's Earth Day) and there will tons of pet related vendors in the park at the end of it all. (I'm dreaming of an Earth Day festival here.... who's with me??)

Ooohh!! And, today I picked up my first kayak. I bought a canoe within the last year, but don't use it much because it's too big and too heavy. So, I bought a Tribe 13.5 with Cory and Ingo at Bayou Teche Experience and I'm looking forward to putting it in the water soon!

I've also been stuffing our rack cards into envelopes to send to all of the state tourism centers, much like I did last year, but this year, I'll do it twice, once now and I guess again in July.

It's amazing how fast time flies, it seems like we were just organizing TDT II and now we're organizing TDT III, PTDT I, and TGBTDP. Can you keep up with all those initials????

Once the new website is up, I'll be putting up an online store with T-shirts, huggies, bumper stickers, boat number stickers, etc etc etc. Whatever my little heart can dream up, right? Ok, well maybe not.

I'm also thinking that for the Dog Paddle, participants, instead of getting a T-shirt or cap, will get an even specific key chain with a matching collar tag for the pups. I have to look at pricing for all that. There are tons of people on board that are helping to make this event a huge success. There's going to be some TV presence for this event soon, so keep your eyes open if you're in the Breaux Bridge/Lafayette area.

OOOOH! And the first magazine in my subscription to Canoe and Kayak magazine came in today. So, I get to look through it for whats left of tonight. And, I have a Better Homes and Gardens that hasn't been looked through yet either.

I hope this sorta catches you up for my absence this week. It's like every time I thought about blogging, my mind went to something else.

-Nicole

And we're back online in the Tour du Teche office! Woooo!

Last night we stayed here until 8 p.m. and connected and disconnected wires until we got everything up and running. It feels great to be able to connect to the internet and know exactly where the problem is should one arise.

Yesterday, we looked over a sample trophy for all the first, second and third place winners in class for the Voyageur division and races 2-6. I am excited! They will look great!

Oh, and, another chapter in the Tour du Teche books was opened yesterday, or day before -- I can't remember, but we will be sponsoring a doggie paddle, where you can paddle a short stretch of Bayou Teche in St. Martin Parish with either your dog, or one from the shelter. All of the proceeds from the event will benefit the SMP animal shelter! (Woo-f!) More details as they become available.

Today, I'll be catching up on paper work and all, so you might not hear from me until Monday.

Fixed the internet, used the internet, broke the internet. :(

Good news is, it will all be fixed PERMANENTLY tomorrow. :)

Best news is, we got our sponsor packets today!

Check out the cover at left. Sorry it's a camera phone pic. But, the print job came out really good. I'm happy.

I ruined our internet in our office today. Not the whole office, just Savanna and I's office. So, I'm updating from home. Didn't accomplish much without internet either. I read emails from my phone and caught up on some printing work that I was lagging on. We should have our internet fixed sometime by Thursday evening (**crossing my fingers**).

Ok, as promised, here was what I said at the Rotary meeting on Thursday. :)

The Tour du Teche began as a grass roots effort in 2010 to bring attention to an underutilized Bayou Teche. What started as an 128-mile, straight-through-the-night canoe and kayak race, quickly turned into a 135-mile three-day three-stage race that hi lights our local Cajun culture.
Paddlers traverse four parishes, St. Landry, St. Martin, Iberia and St. Mary, and end in the Atchafalaya river, about two miles passed the Berwick Lock at the Red Lighthouse.
This past year, they were subjected to massive, MASSIVE rafts of water hyacinth and 20 mph headwinds. This race is not for sissies.
Tour du Teche always starts the first Friday in October, with boat and equipment check the day before. Registration for TDT III will open on April 16 for paddlers and coureurs des bois who have done the race before. I will email registration forms to those I have on file. A 20% discount on registrations will be applied to those received before general registration open on April 30. Registration will close on September 14 at 5 p.m. A change to this year’s rules requires that those that register between September 1st and September 14th must notify me via fax or email that they are sending in their registration via postal mail. This year, I will also be asking for a photo with the entry form for use in the race program, which was a big hit for both paddlers and spectators alike.
The Friday portion of the race begins in Port Barre and flows until the Evangeline Oak in St. Martinville. Last year’s finish line was at Magnolia Park which only proved to be far away from everything, which was a huge complaint from many paddlers. So, the city will be making improvements to the Evangeline Oak park to accomodate paddlers take out needs and upon finishing the race, paddlers will be right in the middle of the festival in down town St. Martinville. This leg of the race is 49 miles and has two checkpoints, at Myran’s in Arnaudville and at Parc des Ponts in Breaux Bridge.
The Saturday portion of the race begins at the Evangeline Oak in St. Martinville and finishes at Parc sur la Teche in Franklin for a total paddle of 59 miles. It also features two checkpoints, one at New Iberia City Park and one at the Chitimacha Boat Launch on the Chitimacha reservation.
The second day also features paddlers first portage, at Keyston Lock and Dam. Paddlers must take their boat out before the lock and carry it around to the other side and put back in. We currently use a portage left option, but we are working with DNR secretary Scott Angelle to build a permanent portage structure on public property before next year’s race. This portion of the race is more dangerous than the first in that large boats and barges traffic this stretch. Also, paddlers encounter the Charenton Cut, which if a wrong turn is taken, could put them into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Sunday portion of the race is the shortest at 27 miles and begins at Parc sur la Teche in Franklin and ends at the Red Lighthouse on the Atchafalaya river in Berwick. This portion has one checkpoint at Hayes Memorial Boat Launch, which I think we are thinking about changing. It’s kind of hard to find from the road, but offers beautiful scenery once on the water front.
There are also three portages on this last stage of the race. The first is at the West Flood gate of the Wax Lake outlet and the second is at the East Gate. Paddlers are now required to wear their life jackets between these two portages as the current could be dangerous. The last portage is at the Berwick Lock where Bayou Teche meets the Atchafalaya River. The locks are run by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
However, if 135 miles is not for you, we also offer five other short races to participate in. Tour du Teche is the main race, race 1. But race 2, Ecrevisse, is 34 miles and only from Port Barre to Breaux Bridge (the finish line for this race is at Parc des Ponts de Pont Breaux). Race 3, Acadian, is now 49 miles from Port Barre to St. Martinville (the finish line for this race is at the Evangeline Oak). Race 4, Hot Sauce, is 25 miles to New Iberia, it ends at New Iberia City Park. Race 5, Sugar, is 59 miles from St. Martinville to Franklin and ends at Parc sur la Teche. Race 6, Oil and Gas, is 27 miles from Franklin to Berwick and ends at the Red Lighthouse on the Atchafalaya River.
TDT III will feature two different divisions of racers, RACING and VOYAGEUR. The racing division as a chance to win prize money and voyageurs are in it to finish and will receive a trophy.
The racing division has classes for solo double blade paddles, tandem double blade paddles, solo single blade paddles, tandem single blade paddles, USCA’s C2 boats and a catch all group that seats a maximum four paddlers.
The voyageur division has classes for solo double blade paddles tandem double blade paddles, solo single blade paddles, tandem single blade paddles, solo pirogue, tandem pirogue, pedal drive and a catch all group that seats a maximum of four paddlers.
The shorter races are only open to the voyageur divisions and those who finish first through third will receive a trophy or plaque. All finishers of all races receive a cap.
Registration fees for the racing division of Tour du Teche are $125 per paddler, for the voyageur division are $80 per paddler. For races 2-6, fees are $60 per paddler.
Fees cover the cost of t-shirts, caps, and insurance. As well as things that paddlers receive in their check in packets.
This year’s Bourre pot is structured differently as well, last year, the first boat to break the record would have received $1,200, or 6% of the prize money. This year, we’ve created individual bourre pots for each of the racing classes. 16% off the top of the total prize money will be added to the current 3,000 bourre pot, which will be then divided by the six classes (catch all, solo double blade paddle, tandem double blade paddle, solo single blade paddle, tandem single blade paddle, and USCA C2). The boat in each of these categories that beats the TDT record times set last year gets that portion of the bourre pot. For the records that are not broken, that pot will grow next year. (Think of the excitement in the Superdome when Drew Brees beat Dan Marino’s 27 year record this year -- this pot has this potential over the next few years.)
Also, for those boats in the racing division that finish first in class, they will receive 4% of the total prize money, per paddler; if they finish second in class, they will receive 2% per paddler; if they finish third in class, they will receive 1% per paddler. We’ve done away with first female prizes, because we found out that women CAN compete with men, and win.
Paddlers in voyageur divisions in all races that finish first through third will receive a trophy.
All registered paddlers and coureurs des bois receive a 2012 t-shirt at check in. All finishers receive a TDT cap. Each team that wins a class will receive a green windbreaker jacket. I am looking into making patches for those that received a jacket last year to add to it this year, if they should finish first in class again. Each team that finishes first in class for each STAGE, will receive a stage winner shirt, in Red for Gabriel (Friday), in Green for Chitimacha (Saturday), and in Black for Roughneck (Sunday).
Voyageur classes will begin racing at 7 a.m. sharp after a brief pre-race ceremony at 6:30 a.m. Racing classes will begin at 8 a.m. sharp and will have less time to finish their respective legs.
This year, we have the same sponsorships available. Major Sponsors for $10,000, eight race and stage sponsors for $3,000, and Admirals for $1,500, Captains for $1,000, First Mates for $500, and Deckhands for $100. Every little bit helps, you can get in touch with myself or Mr. Ray for a sponsorship packet, which contains a lot of the information you need to know about the race plus a sponsorship form. Packets will be ready by January 13th, forms are ready now. All sponsorships are made to Community Foundation with a memo Tour du Teche and are tax deductible because Community Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization.
In order to operate the Tour du Teche, we must receive help and support from four parish sheriff’s departments, four parish governments, the Coast Guard, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the St. Mary Levee Board, the Office of Coastal Protection and restoration, Wildlife and Fisheries and a couple handfuls of community administrations and dozens of organizations like yours. It hasn’t been easy, but everyone has turned out to be really helpful and supportive. The communities have risen to the occasion and have shown paddlers an awesome time and have been very welcoming, which creates an impression that paddlers aren’t used to getting.
The process generally begins in January when we re sign up for our USCA membership, then after about the second week of Jan, I’ll apply for insurance. We get permits to operate from Wildlife and Fisheries, the Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard, OCPR, and the St. Mary Levee District. We must also have letters of support from each of the parish sheriff’s departments.
This year, we will be receiving support form the Coast Guard auxilliary to secure the waters, for the first time.
The goal of the Tour du Teche is to bring attention to the bayou and help people to realize that it’s a great way to get out and experience nature, but also that it’s important to keep it clean. Cajuns for Bayou Teche has done a great job at cleaning up the bayou. The next project is to clear up water hyacinth, which will not be easy.
Tour du Teche’s most recent endeavor is the addition of another race, the Petite Tour du Teche, a race geared to 5-17 year olds.
The petite will be broken down to several different races for different age groups: Fledgling 1 for ages 5-7 will race 250 yards, Fledgling 2 for ages 8-10 will race 250 yards, Bantam for ages 11-12 will race 500 yards. Juvenile for ages 13-14 will race around a mile, and Junior for ages 15-17 will race around a mile. All age categories are that child’s age as of December 31st of the prior calendar year.
The Petite TDT will always be the second Saturday in September. Ages 5-12 will race on Saturday and ages 13-17 will race on Sunday.
The first Petite will be held in Breaux Bridge at Parc des Ponts de Pont Breaux but will be up for bid from communities along the Teche after. This year’s race will feature, which will probably be a requirement, a 250 yard racing area and a 400 yard viewing area.
The classes of boats allowed in these races include solo double blade paddle, tandem double blade paddle, solo single blade paddle, tandem single blade paddle, and tribe 13.5 kayak solo and tandem (all boats in this class will be this specific boat - same make length and width.
All the petite races will begin with boat and equipment check at 8 a.m. and racing at 9 a.m., awards ceremonies will be a 5 p.m. on their respective days.
There will be seperate sponsorship opportunities for the petite TDT, as well as seperate T-shirts and prizes. It is our goal to grow the racing community in this area by getting more children into it. (It is healthy impact free exercise after all.) With that, we hope that more parents will want to get involved with the “big” TDT.
Thank you for your time, do you have any questions?

Okay, Just a quick update.......

Sorry I didn't post this weekend, I did some serious examining of the insides of my eyelids all weekend and woke up yesterday sort of feeling refreshed.

I dropped off some paperwork at one of our Lawyer Friends office this morning. They will be helping us with some legal paperwork. Also, got the word that the sponsor booklets are almost done, should be ready to go sometime this week.

Tonight, much won't be happening, I'll be watching the LSU/Bama National Championship game.

-Nicole

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am one happy girl today!!! I got confirmation of our first sponsorships that came in!!!! Thank you to Pellerin Funeral Homes for $3,000 sponsorship of the Acadiana race and Teche Federal Bank for becoming a $10,000 major sponsor again!!!!!! :)))

Oh! And, the Rotary meeting went wonderfully! I was so excited to share the race with them and everyone was so receptive, AND! we had a full house! Everyone had lots of good questions, and they all seem very excited about the Petite Tour du Teche. (I'll post a copy of my speech later on tonight.)

I am about to leave to go visit with the Hamm Radio Operators to thank them again for their participation in TDT II. They were a huge help and we hope they want to help us again next year! It will be great!

Yayyyyy!!! TDTIII in 9 months! Woooo!

Today we made some pretty tough legal decisions that will take us a couple of weeks to iron out. But, it's all about the forward progress. After I'm finished writing this, we're going to meet with a nice lady that was an instrument in getting the race started. Mr. Ken offered me to tag along for drinks, who could refuse such an offer?? Not I, LOL.

Tomorrow, I will be speaking at the St. Martinville Rotary Club meeting and will introduce for the first time ever, the Petite Tour du Teche, a race specifically designed for 5-17 year-olds which will only be the beginning to the paddling culture in this area.

It will be exciting to see how the club receives it. They've been really supportive of the race and it seems like every time we mention something like a race for children, they get really excited about it, which is really great.

This all has so much potential and so much support -- it makes my job so fun and easy.

:)

There isn't really much to talk about today. I'm feeling kind of under the weather, a scratchy throat is really all. But, my productivity isn't quite there today.

This morning I ordered our sponsorship packets to be printed. And this afternoon, I worked on advertising materials for the race program that shows paddlers pictures, names, classes, etc. This will be really exciting because Acadiana Lifestyle has come on board with us on this project and are going to be helping out a whole lot!

'til next time...........

TDT Blog

Greetings!

I've been looking at what we've been posting on forums and on our website and on Facebook, and I realize that most of that doesn't talk about what I work on on a daily basis. And, I've really wanted to keep a record/diary of what I do, and what it takes to make the race go. I'm not good with writing in journals about how I feel, but I think this will be a great tool for keeping record of what goes on with the race; I just have to commit to keeping it up.

I was nosing around on the internet and found the blog that I created for my CMCN class in college. LOL! I guess it was a, "My, How things have changed!!" moment.

Anyways, my first official post of what I did today:

I took off from work today, (LOL, a blog about work starts with a day that I took off from work) for a day of relaxing. But I posted on our forums, proboards and paddle24seven, the new info for TDT III, rules and regulations, classes, schedule, awards, etc.

Tomorrow, we'll get the paper off, hopefully before noon, and then I'll get to working on my speech for the Rotary Meeting on Thursday. It will be lots of fun to introduce people to our new idea, we know they'll be behind it, it will be great!

Later --
Nicole