Admittedly, I have not kept my knowledge current on the efforts to create a paddling park on the Winnipesaukee River in recent years, but recent Grok coverage and attention from the NH Journal stirred some thoughts and memories.
I also wasn’t familiar with the current people in office. In fact, all I knew was that Karen Testerman, who I voted for in the past 2 primaries in hope of removing the Damn Emperor, was an alderman for some time.
It might be helpful to offer some background that I hope will aid the reader in making sense of what I have to say, starting with my early days of whitewater paddling in the late 90s, when my senior peers were sounding the alarm on the Boat Tax. D’Allesandro and Rep Goley, both from Manchester and well on their way to eternal swampdom, were sponsoring bills to require unmotorized vessels to be registered. They were trying to shake down paddlers in an attempt to balance the F&G budget, and I always objected.
A fellow Nashua paddler, who supported my candidacy more than once, was one of my regular peers on the water, and we regularly carpooled to our favorite rivers, one of them being the Winnipesaukee. During our cumulatively many miles and hours on the road, we would discuss a variety of things. His father died not long after we met, and we were talking about my refusal to park in the pay parking or some raised cover charge to a popular event when he said, “My dad was a Scottish Presbyterian; you two would have made great friends had you met.” I was dumbfounded and said, “I’m not in the habit of choosing friends for their religious views; why do you think that?” He went on to say that his dad stubbornly did not believe in any unnecessary spending of money. When he showed up to vote in the last city election, I told him I wanted to replace Alderman Dowd with some “Scottish Presbyterianism.”
So enough with that, even though I admit to having lots of Scottish ancestry, federal omnibus porked up bills are nothing new. However, the Franklin Paddle Park is new. I don’t paddle much these days, and I have to admit that I certainly don’t miss being in the company of lots of people with demented political views. The fellow paddler I just referenced is ok, and I should say that for the record, just in case he reads this. Considering the prevailing views of most paddlers I’ve associated with, I predict that Jeanne Shaheen will achieve sainthood in that community.
Sadly, most paddlers I know are in desperate need of a good therapeutic dose of Thomas Sowell. I suggest the quote he makes about government quietly stealing your money and giving some of it back to you flamboyantly. Shaheen is a good poster child for that.
There are several people worthy of recognition for their Franklin & Winnipesaukee River activism. Someone else can certainly write about them if so inspired, but I’m here to talk about funds, funding, and generosity. Whether or not you, the reader, have ever paddled whitewater or even visited Franklin, I want you to recognize that Shaheen is no friend of paddlers or of Franklinites, or of Granite Staters. (see above comment on Thomas Sowell quote) You will observe canonizing comments of her, especially in the next midterm, but I want you to know who the real hero is. It’s Mr Grevior, the local furniture store owner.
In my earlier years of paddling the Winnipesaukee River, the takeout area near the bridge was a run-down Chinese restaurant that closed. I met Mr Grevior, a river enthusiast and next-door business owner, while we were dropping off shuttle cars in the Chinese restaurant lot on a cold, drizzly spring day. He was walking by with his dogs and he invited us to get dressed in his furniture store restroom. Wow! Think of big furniture showrooms. His store was in a refurbished mill building with limited square feet of floor space. I was floored, no pun intended, by his candid and generous offer because accepting it involved tracking in wet footprints and brushing by new furniture while wearing wet wetsuits and carrying wet apparel back out through the showroom. He didn’t have a care in the world. He later bought that Chinese restaurant lot and donated it for the creation of what’s presently known as Trestle View Park.
If anyone deserves praise from the paddling community and/or Franklin, it’s Mr Grevior, who has always been interested, generous, and thoughtful to the community, rather than a career politician and DC swamp rat that does nothing for NH beyond claiming its share of the federal pork. You can show him and his family business some love if you or someone you know in the Franklin area wants new furniture.
And if you cross paths with Chuck Morse, suggest that he swing by and pat the family dogs.
Spruce would want that.
