Redwood Rafters hosted their first costume paddle event

The Redwood Rafters is a youth whitewater rafting team and they held their first costume paddle fundraising event. 

“We had about maybe 40 paddlers that signed up and we paddled from the Humboldt Bay Bridge there down to Living The Dream ice cream,” said Abby Grundman-Guthrie, the head coach. “We had some ice cream, paddled back, and it was all a fundraiser for the Redwood Rafters.”

The event included a costume contest where the kids got to pick the winners of the best kid and adult Halloween costumes. The winners were paddlers Barbie and Woody. 

The Redwood Rafters is made up of 10 to 17-year-olds. 

“The Redwood Rafters is a group of youth from Humboldt County and they practice the four disciplines of rafting,” Grundman-Guthrie said. “Which is the sprint, the head-to-head, the slalom, and the downed river. Their first race that they’re going to participate in is boat smith up here on the Smith [River]. And then hopefully someday they’ll get to nationals and worlds and be just competitive rafters.”

The Redwood Rafters have about 15 members on their team and are open for more to join. People are encouraged to connect with the team via Instagram (@redwood.rafters). 

“As far as we know, this is the first whitewater youth team coming out of Humboldt County and we’re planning this to be our annual fundraiser and we hope it to get as big as the Kinetic Sculpture race,” Grundman-Guthrie said. “We were actually sad that we didn’t see some kinetic sculptures out here this time, but we’re hoping for next year.”