So you know that here at KQ I do what I can to give the women of paddling their props. (Aretha Franklin would be proud) So with that in mind. . .

The woman in the contemplative moment above is Megan P. The renown “jane of all trades” at Rutabaga in Madison. I always liked this picture, but more on that later. Megan is one of the superhuman organizers behind the big Canoecopia gig coming up in 8 days in Madison. Megan has the pleasurable job of working with all the presenters, vendors, reps and various paddling elves and ogres to get the show organized. You can imagine that it’s about now when she begins counting the new grey hairs. . . oh wait maybe that’s just “highlights”. . . . By the time the doors open next Friday she’ll be just starting to feel the heat ease down a bit. And we, get to enjoy the fruits of her months of labor. (Of course she’s just one of the team, but this post is about her, so share the love. . ) Of course in the midst or her high stress season she managed to help put together a Rutabaga sponsorship of Hadas Feldman and Tomer Sabag in their Newfoundland trip coming later this year, and helped to get Freya Hoffmeister & Greg Stamer to give us a pool demo. In fact had that not worked out we wouldn’t be having our little clinic on March 11th. (Not to mention tolerating all my mindless emails that she gets whenever I’m going daft from staring at a computer screen all day!) Certainly, we paddlers in the Midwest and even some of us a few thousand miles away owe Megan a big “THANK YOU!!”. So thank you Megan for all your hard work, keeping your head together and of course all that other stuff you do!

HOWEVER THAT BEING SAID. . . this is of course, a set up! I have a challenge for everyone attending Canoecopia this year. That includes, attendees, vendors, sales reps, Rutabaga instructors & employees. . . WE NEED MORE PICTURES OF MEGAN!! Yeah, she’s one of those camera shy types and it’s a challenge to catch her. So here’s the deal. While at Canoecopia this year, bring your digital cameras. See if you can get a great picture of Megan. You’ll see her, she’ll be around. Get the best pictures you can. If you can avoid being seen all the better, but the truth is she’ll know you’re coming. Remember to get that perfect photo she’s got to be happy, so kind and polite shots only. After Canoecopia send me your Megan pictures. A week after the show I will go through them and pick the best shot and will feature it here and what’s more, The person with the best shot will become Kayak Quixotica Editor of the Week. YEP, I will write about WHATEVER you want for a whole week! Maybe you’d like me to write about the dangers of Baby formula or Global warming or the NRA. Maybe you’d like me to spend a the week writing about your personal kayak adventures. Or maybe you want me to spend a 5 days straight writing about your products, your shop, your foldable kayaks, your magazine, your new Cetus. Whatever, you’re the editor. All it takes for you to take over KayakQuixotica for 1 week is that “great shot” of our Midwest Paddlesports Heroine. JB don’t forget to charge your batteries! Now I figure with 1600 of you stopping by each day, at least a few of you will be at the show, so we should get some nice pics!

Here are a couple other shots that I was able to get in the last year or so. . .