10th Annual Derby Drew National Attention

Probably on of the most newsworthy renewals of the traditional White Water Derby was the 10th annual contest in 1967 which received nation-wide publicity because of several notables who attended, with some participating.

Supervisor Sterling Goodspeed was chairman of the race that year, and Charles Severance was the race secretary.

In attendance that year were US Senator and Mrs. Robert Kennedy, who where in the race, and their seven children; Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy; Chris Lawford, son of Peter and Pat Lawford; Stephen Smith, son of the Senator's sister; Secretary of the Interior and Mrs. Stewart L. Udall; James Whitaker, the first American to scale Mr. Everest, and Robert Harrigan, organizer of the Washington Canoe.

Also attending were Mr. and Mrs. Alexander (Sam) Aldrich. Mr. Aldrich, the nephew of then Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller, was executive director for the Hudson Valley Commission.

The town was jumping for a week before, with highway crews manicuring the roads, sweeping, repairing and painting in preparation for the honored guests and the White Water Derby.

Racers were entered from Canada, Kenya, and throughout the United States with Vermont, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Delaware, New Hampshire, Michigan, and Pennsylvania represented besides New York.

IN the 1 mile giant slalom on Saturday, Sandy Campbell of Hanover, N.H., was the overall winner in his one-man kayak. His runs were 10 minutes 20 seconds for this first trip and 10:15 for the second.

Bob Weinreb of New York City won the one-mile novice slalom, also in a one-man kayak, in times of 9:28 and 8:57. Billy Stetson of North River was second.

Stetson was the overall local winner in the novice slalom, with Tom Pierson of North Creek and Ralph Coon of Blue Mt. Lake second, in a 2 seater canoe.

Overall local winners in the giant slalom were Peter Barton and Tom Leonard of North Creek in a 2 man canoe, with Sam Allison of North Creek and John Collins of New Paltz teaming up for second place.

Awards for the slalom events were presented at Johnsburg Central School, with Bill Carpenter acting as master of ceremonies. Senator Kennedy, Secretary Udall and Mrs. Aldrich gave brief talks at the ceremony.

Giant slalom class winners included: K-2 Pat and Dick Cunningham, North Creek, and C2M Sam Hoopes of Glens Falls and John Pratt of Bolton Landing.

Three Canadian entries won top honors in the 7 mile downriver race on Sunday as about 9,000 people watched the finish at Riparius. Mr. Kennedy and her partner, Jim Whittaker, made the run after several dunkings. Senator Kennedy and William Bickham of College Park, PA., finished third in the CC-2 division in 1:11:29.

The overall winner, in a one-man kayak, was Emil Mashek of Toronto, Ontario, in a 1 hour 3 minutes and 15 seconds. He beat Manfred Bauer of Cooksville, Ontario, by 12 seconds.

Dr. Homer Dodge of Burlington, Vt., won the C-1 Mature division.

3 Days For The Centennial

Last year, in observance of the centennial of the Adirondack Park, the White Water Derby was expanded to three days of racing, with an additional race, the Centennial Challenge, taking place between North River and North Creek on Friday, May 1.

Results and entries for the race were tabulated and calculated by computer.

The race was created to underscore the important role that the Hudson River ahs played locally, most notably for the log drives, moving pulp wood from the North Country up as far as Newcomb, down to the mills in Glens Falls. The last river drive took place in 1953. The White Water Derby was noted by the state's Centennial committee as being unique and historic.