General Forum

Our Bayou Bandits did great at the 10th Annual River Rat Paddle Challenge. We’re so proud of their effort and our team support of the ACE School and the Kiroli Foundation. Special commendation goes to Mark Robinson for getting us center sponsor on the event t-shirt. Great job team!!

Feel free to add any additional photos that you have in the comments

Ten Bayou Chapter members rolled up their sleeves for this year’s Love Our Waterways cleanup, a Keep Louisiana Beautiful initiative made possible locally through Keep Bossier Beautiful and Shreveport Green.

BCOS volunteers joined others from across the community, spreading out to tackle litter at Richard Fleming Park/North Cross Lake, near the American Legion on Cross Lake, along South Lakeshore Drive and at the East Kings Highway duck pond.

Representing BCOS were Tricia Grayson, Cheryl Webb, Mark Robinson, Melissa Leporati, Gary Knippers, Marian Howard, Scott Grayson, Sharon Windham, Phillip Waters and Brandon Henry. Together, they contributed 40 volunteer hours to the effort.

And the results across the entire Love Our Waterways initiative were impressive: 120 volunteers collected 3.95 tons — 7,900 pounds — of litter in just four hours. That adds up to 480 cumulative volunteer hours and, for a little fun with the numbers, an average of nearly 66 pounds…

We had a record crowd at our Labor Day float on the Caddo River. Twenty-three fun loving folks tackled a 100 degree day with a cool lazy river and a variety of inflatables and kayaks.

It was a rarity to see water coming over the lower Lake DeGray spillway which resulted in a wonderful current for the majority of the three-mile paddle. We paused at three gravel bars to frolic in the cool clear water. The last stop was at the rope swing where the young made big splashes while the less adventurous cheered them on.

After four hours on the water, some of us were starved and hit Las Agaves restaurant the sits next door to the Caddo River Rats takeout. Today was the last day of their season.

I’m thrilled that we had a lot of rookie floaters this time. Sharing a special place makes the day that…

Fourteen folks braved the bayou night to paddle Dorcheat Bayou on Friday night. We were prepared with food, drink, lights and insect repellent.

Just south of the launch, we encountered some salvinia, but it was not compacted - easy to paddle through - and quickly cleared. About 1.5 miles into the paddle, we found a nice flat sandbar that became our rest stop for about an hour. We had Down Home sausage, sliders, popcorn, root beer floats(!), cookies and trail mix to replenish us for the paddle back upstream.

Just as we packed to head back to the launch, the moon peaked over the trees. While we had some dark spots on the paddle back, our colorful kayaks helped keep everyone together. We did have some challenges, but our group pulled together to help each other and our teamwork made the dream work.

Thanks to all that came out. Nigh…