Your Great Outdoor Store
-And What We Think You Might Enjoy-
Grand Opening of New Test Pond: Featuring Sentor Akshar
Jim and Sue had previously invited their customers to try out kayaks at their personal pond, just a short drive up the road from The Kayak Showroom. This was until they put a beautiful 15 ft. deep pond right up behind the business.
In celebration of the Grand Opening of the New Test Pond, The Tioga County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony for local community members to come check out what it was all about.
As we were all enjoying yummy snacks and sparkling grape juice, we heard a voice say that "they didn't want a drink, but rather wanted to go try out a kayak!" This was the voice of our own Senator Akshar. He made time in his extremely busy schedule to come chat about our business and he even jumped on a Hobie Mirage Eclipse!
What a great honor to have him here.
July 15, 2015
Route 96 Power & Paddle has seen amazing growth and over the past 15 years. We decided to do an Anniversary Celebration to reward our customers for their continued support. Husqvarna & Stihl came to visit and set-up their new product lines for customers to try out whatever they wanted. We had some awesome giveaways at The Shoe Outlet everyone who came to check out what all we have! A free pair of Vasque, Dansko, Chaco, Olukai, and Vibram FiveFingers were given away.
After seeing a week of straight rain, we were worried about the weather for our event, but Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day! Our visitors loved getting rides up to our new test pond and checking out all of the kayaks and stand-up paddleboards that we have up there. We believe it is extremely important that you are 100% comfortable in your boat, before you purchase one. Try Before You Buy at The Kayak Showroom.
We saw lots of familiar faces, and many new faces at our event. Everyone left with a full belly and smiles. It was a great day, enjoyed by all!
15th Year Anniversary
Kayak 101 @ The New Pond
Five O'clock came quick and we began straightening out the pond and arranging all the needed boats, paddles, and PFDs. Three cute little frog friends hopped through the sand, and I was cautious to not step on any of them. I was so excited for this class and to see how much fun everyone was going to have. UNTIL..THERE WAS A MOUSE! Stewart Little's brother was also camping out in the overturned boats and gave me a run for my money as I screamed and jumped on the utility four wheeler nearby. Jim and Mike had quite a laugh from that. Mouse friend scurried far up the hillside, no worries.
The eleven people that had signed up for the class soon made their way up the hill to the pond, and we fit everyone with life jackets and had them sign the waiver. There were some that had recently bought kayaks, others who were experienced but just wanted to get expert advice and try out some different style boats, and others that were apprehensive about their first time ever kayaking.
Class started with Jim going over the absolute requirements of someone being able to kayak. Left to right brain integration. You have to have a certain reaction time and balance ability to kayak. Without them, it could be dangerous. He then explored a whole table full off kayaking accessories that are handy for those who want to stay dry, want their belongings to stay dry, are kayaking in colder waters, etc. The Kayak Showroom has so much nifty stuff that I still am learning about every time I walk in there.
Proper paddling techniques were then demonstrated to everybody, in order to make sure individuals use their core to paddle, rather than just their arms.
Now it was time for everyone to pick a kayak and "jump in!" The wider boats are more stable, but they don't travel nearly as fast as the narrow ones. Everyone was able to try any boat they wanted to, and asked so many good questions. Jim is a plethora of information and his true passion is teaching. Sue provided refreshments and delicious cut up fruit , which were a great treat after being in the water for an hour. All the participants were extremely pleased with their experience and left with a smile on their face, and assured that if they wanted to go kayaking, they knew who to come talk to.
Next 101 class. June 2019.
