CCC Board openings for 2027

The Carolina Canoe Club was founded in 1969 and is one of the oldest, largest and most prestigious paddling clubs in the United States with current membership of over 800 single and household members.

The continued success of the club relies on the dedication of its members to keep it moving forward.  Every trip, event, class and everything related to WOR is possible because someone chose to serve or volunteer. Assuming such a leadership role is way of “paying it forward” and contributing to the collective energy of the club.   We learn when we lead and become better paddlers, better team members and better people.

Please consider running for one of the CCC Board positions that will open later this year and are identified below.  If you would like to know more, please contact this year’s Nominating Committee: Randy DiCello, Holly Whitley and Alton Chewning at  nominations@carolinacanoeclub.org.  The Nominating Committee will submit at least one eligible person for each open office by 10/28/2026.  Electronic voting will follow for a period determined by the Board in accordance with the Bylaws.  This year voting will take place 11/12 – 27.

Board positions open for 2026 – 2027 are listed below with the descriptions directly from the Bylaws and also with information supplied by current or previous Board members.  All outgoing chairs are willing to work with the incoming chair to transfer knowledge and information

Cruise Chair     outgoing chair: Rick Steeves

From Bylaws:

Section 11. Cruise Chair. The Cruise Chair shall: (a) perform the duties of the President in the absence or inability of the officer to act; (b) shall plan and develop the formal schedule of cruises including the selection of volunteer trip coordinators and WOR volunteers for same; and shall maintain the calendar of scheduled trips and events; and (c) serve, ex officio, as a member of the Board of Directors.

Description:

• WOR
  • being there, starting and running the morning meeting
  • make sure clinics are being organized for WOR
  • handling WOR issues
  • manage relationship with the campground. This is a lot easier now because the campground is managing the list of fixed sites and checking that people are CCC member
• Time commitment: about 4 hours / month generally, more for WOR lead up, less in the fall/winter
• Managing the relationship with the campground.
• Contacting pools for winter roll session information and getting them on the CCC calendar (roughly 10-20 calls)
• Coordination of Farrington roll sessions
• Encouraging people to get trips on the calendar.
• Provide information for the annual budget

Conservation Chair     outgoing chair: Mort Barlaz

From Bylaws:

Section 15. Conservation Chair. The Conservation Chair shall: (a) plan and develop activities of a conservation nature and investigate current development affecting natural resources and advise the membership; (b) propose group action to oppose physical or political obstruction to the usage of navigable waters and wilderness areas; and (c) serve, ex officio, as a member of the Board of Directors.

Description:

• Coordinate river clean-ups, keep up with ongoing conservation projects like the Haw River Trail, FERC notices, dam removal efforts, local water quality concerns and river access discussions.  Some knowledge of these issues would be helpful and a passion for conservation would be a great benefit.  A Conservation Committee can be a very useful in making this program successful.
• Prepare Budget: primarily related to annual contributions to an established list of agencies and organizations. Funds are also allocated to a Conservation Fund and an Access fund to be held in reserve and used for issues or needs that arise throughout the year. For example in 2026 the CCC donated fund to help with a land purchase related to the New River Gorge State Park.
• Work with legislative and regulatory agencies – it’s desirable to attend meetings or send a representative however this isn’t always possible; post announcements on the Club website so interested members can engage
• Time commitment:
  • Board/membership meetings: about 4 per year, 60 – 90 minutes each
  • Preparing budget; 1 – 2 hours
  • Recruiting for river cleanups – 2 hours a year for emails

Safety Chair     outgoing chair: Chris Mattox

From Bylaws:

Section 13. Safety Chair. The Safety Chair shall: (a) plan and develop activities of an educational nature and investigate current development affecting water safety, safety in the use of canoes, kayaks, and other watercraft; (b) select instructors and/or safety boaters in accordance with ACA guidelines; and (c) serve, ex officio, as a member of the Board of Directors.

Description:

• Plan, organize, and schedule at least 2 ACA “Advanced Swift Water Rescue” (SWR) clinics and 1 ACA “Essentials of River Safety and Rescue” clinic each year (more or less covered by what William Holman schedules)
• Ensure that all safety clinics are registered with and insured by the ACA (the instructor for the course does this)
• Ensure that safety clinic student registration fees and stipend requests are submitted to the Club Secretary/Treasurer (outgoing chair will assist with this)
• Maintain an inventory of Club safety equipment (rescue PFDs, throw ropes, strainer bar, haul lines, audio-visual equipment, etc.)
• Recruit volunteers for the Safety Committee that are (or interested in being) certified ACA SWR instructors
• Current projects or works-in-progress:
  • Long-term we need to recruit and train more instructors for the club, but for the time being William Holman is meeting that need
  • There is interest in more courses, or a more scenarios based course. No pressure to put a bunch of energy into this as the spring SWR course did not fill at all.
  • There is some old equipment that needs to be evaluated/replaced.
• Prepare Budget (There is a running spreadsheet which has been copying budgets from previous years and just adjusting; outgoing chair can pre-populate a template to facilitate the process
• Time commitments: attend 4 board meetings per year(2 are virtual); generally spend about an hour per month

Member-at-Large     outgoing chair: Lorraine Burnham

From Bylaws:

Section 17. Member-at-Large. The Member-at-Large shall: (a) serve as a liaison between the Membership and the Board of Directors, serving as a conduit for suggestions, complaints, and concerns; keeping the sources anonymous when possible; and (b) serve, ex officio, as a member of the Board of Directors.

Description:

• Facilitate/coordinate issues raised by members
• Budget: $0 for this role
• Time commitment: attend board meetings, member meetings; minimal time