The weather was perfect on Oct. 10 when Sag Harbor Community Rowing’s fourth annual Poker Paddle, a fund-raiser for the construction of a dock that will be available for all to use, drew people of all ages to Sag Harbor Cove.
In a paddling outing with prizes for the best hand, paddlers in kayaks, paddleboards, and rowing shells left from Cove Road Park and collected playing cards handed out by volunteers at five docks in the inner coves. Sadie Oliver of Sag Harbor had the best hand and was declared the winner.
“We’re very close,” Lee Oldak, who founded the nonprofit Sag Harbor Community Rowing 18 years ago, said this week of the money needed to construct the dock. The project has been approved by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the federal Army Corps of Engineers, and the Southampton Town Trustees. “We’re just waiting for the final stages from Sag Harbor,” said Mr. Oldak, who until last year was a co-owner of Amagansett Beach and Bicycle. “We should be able to have this dock for the spring.”
The rowing group’s mission is to promote the safe practice of the sport. Around 50 students from local schools attend training, led by a certified instructor, in the spring and fall, a number that grows to around 75 in the summer. Roughly 25 adults also take part.
“We have a high-performance clinic for kids who want to race at a high level,” Mr. Oldak said. “We do a learn-to-row, and we have a rowing program with a group out of Southampton, Luv Michael,” which works to empower adults on the autism spectrum.
“It’s about all kinds of people coming together and getting on the water,” said Lynn Arthur of Southampton. “Exercise, fresh air, beauty. Everybody helps everybody else.”
For Ms. Arthur, who distributed playing cards from a dock during the Poker Paddle, joining a class for beginner adults has been invaluable in recovering from knee replacement. “After surgery that extensive, I was a mess,” she said, citing diminished balance, strength, and flexibility. “It was painful at first, but by the end of six weeks I was good to go.”
Donations toward the dock’s construction can be made at bit.ly/4eparsV.
