Serving the Vermont Champlain Valley Area for 45 Years
Tuesday February 2, 2010 Edition
Main Sections
Front Page SportsValley VitalsIt's in the StarsStarwiseArchivesLinksAbout The VoiceContact Us







Living Out A Dream & Helping To Eradicate Polio- 1790 Ohio River Run

College buddy and one of the two making the 1790 River Run Robert McNamara.
photo provided
College buddy and one of the two making the 1790 River Run Robert McNamara.
Showing their trip and outlining the distance of the journey that begins in April.
photo provided
Showing their trip and outlining the distance of the journey that begins in April.
College buddy and one of the two making the trip is Stewart Brown.
photo provided
College buddy and one of the two making the trip is Stewart Brown.

Tuesday February 2, 2010

By Cookie Steponaitis

   When Stewart Brown and Robert McNamara met at the University of Kentucky they had plans. Plans for their future, plans for fun while they were at work at the Campus Bookstore and plans for a trip. The pair was only earning $ 1.25 an hour at the time but they shared a common love of the outdoors, canoeing and history. During those years of college there seemed to be endless hours of time and tomorrow was always just around the corner for preparing for those wondrous adventures, including a trip of momentous size and planning.

    Flash forward forty years and once again the two are joined in plans. After college Stewart stayed in Kentucky and pursued a career in marketing and advertising. Rob entered teaching and taught science from 1972-2000 at Vergennes Union High School. The two maintained contact but the dream of canoeing the Ohio River Run was put on hold until just recently when the pair once again set in motion a plan to change things up and link a personal dream to a national cause.

    The 1790 Ohio River Run is the culmination of a dream that began at the University of Kentucky and brings the two friends full circle in melding their passions for community, history, and adventure. Rob joined the Vergennes chapter of Rotary International in 2001 and was impressed by the dedication and drive Rotarians have for eliminating the disease Polio worldwide. Rob and Stewart proposed a trip that would achieve their dream connecting the power of the Rotary of Louisville, Kentucky with Vergennes, Vermont and countless others on the way. Simply put, the trip is one of a lifetime in many different ways.

    Leaving from Ten Mile Creek in Pennsylvania on April 8th, 2010, Rob and Stewart will canoe fifty miles down the Monongahela River and then canoe seven hundred miles of the mighty Ohio River, ending their journey in Louisville, Kentucky on approximately May 15th. They will have a web link and video capability that will connect them to classrooms and schools across the country, and will broadcast live from several locations on the river.

    Merging past and present, the two will be dressed in authentic period costumes from 1790 and will carry flintlock rifles made by Stewart. The trip will recreate that of Samuel Brady, who left Fort Pitt in 1790 and sailed the Ohio on his way westward. While the modern travelers will be dressed in costuming of the past, they will have to pass at least twenty modern coal burning power plants that will leave little doubt to the changes that have occurred on the Ohio. In addition, the canoeists will travel through an extensive system of locks.

    The stated goal is to raise one million pennies or $ 10,000 which will be donated to the Rotary International Polio Drive. The pair has already joined forces with the following sponsors; Cabela’s Inc, Johnson’s Outdoors Store, Vermont Hardwood Pens, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Marsha Chase and Muckboots. Rob and Stewart have established a website about the trip at www.1790ohioriverrun.com and are seeking sponsors of all types to make this trip a success at so many levels.

    When presenting the trip to Addison County educators recently, Rob encouraged teachers to get in touch with them via email and to make this trip a “…living part of their curriculum in any way possible. Send us some questions,” Bob remarked. “Or let’s brainstorm how this can enhance their learning. There is so much to learn about this corridor of America’s waterways and the history is particularly vibrant and powerful.”      

     We are all invited to follow the journey that begins on April 8th, 2010 and are challenged to step up with a sponsorship or a contribution to see polio one step closer to being history itself. Whether you are a teacher, student, historian, elderly, child, adult, outdoorsman, canoeist, a business, a civic organization, a major corporation, or just plain enthusiast, there is something for all in this adventure and in the satisfaction that comes from changing lives through service. So, log on, join in and watch as history is made in many ways, linking two old friends as they live out a dream that links the power of classrooms and civic organizations from around the nation. The focus in on the past, the present and the potential for ending a disease that still takes an unnecessary toll on lives around the world.  

     As Rob and Stewart’s website reminds us, “It is never too late to live your dreams,” and as Rotary International challenges us, “Your contribution will help Rotary raise $200 million to match $355 million in challenge grants received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The resulting $555 million will directly support immunization campaigns in developing countries, where polio continues to infect and paralyze children, robbing them of their futures and compounding the hardships faced by their families. As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere remain at risk. The stakes are that high.”

    The Valley Voice salutes the spirit, passion and friendship of these men that has allowed them to fulfill a dream and at the same time secure hope for children everywhere, for whom walking is their dream.


 Printer Friendly  Top

Related Stories:

· Linking Agriculture & Community: Sharing Memories With Helen Cobb
Advertisements


Search our Archives


· More Options



   

Agricultural Weather Forecast:

© 2006-18 The Valley Voice • 656 Exchange St., Middlebury, VT 05753 • 802-388-6366 • 802-388-6368 (fax)
Valleywides: [email protected] • Classifieds: [email protected] • Info: [email protected]