Aimlessly drifting through the long days of fall

This archived article was written by: Gypsie Delgado

You may have noticed the muddy shoes outside Tucker and Burtenshaw Dorms. These shoes are being left by Carbon County Extreme Canalers, which is a new club on campus that Asa Shreve started.
Shreve said, “It all started with Chava Gileadi who is a native of Carbonville. She was the first one to show us the canal and a way to have fun without spending money. The original canalers were Alma Sweeny, Hernando Perez, Shirlee Shreve, Mike Adams, Chava Gileadi, Jon Gileadi, and Sarah Gileadi.
“It was so fun that I thought, ‘we have to do this again.’ Then it became a tradition. I am the only original canaler that has gone every time.
“A crazy canaler is a position held within the club. The crazy canaler is officially the person who wears the helmet. The helmet is actually a Kansas City Chief’s helmet but now stands for the “Krazy Canaler”. To become the Krazy Canaler for the day, you do something crazy during the canal ride; like jump under the water.
“The four-main rules of canaling are first you must talk about canaling, second you must talk about canaling, third you must wear shoes and guys can’t wear shirts, and fourth don’t take anything that is not yours from the canal.”
This because the Carbon County Extreme Canalers have had some stuff stolen like lids, skis, and a barrel. “If you have any information leading to these missing items, please return them to the canal,” mentioned Shreve
The Carbon County Extreme Canalors meet every Saturday at 10:30 am at Tucker Dorms. “We take off from the dorms and take Carbonville Road, then drive to where it’s almost to the 50-6 Highway, and right before the highway, we pull off. The canal is off to the right. You walk up the road taking your sleds, baby baths, or anything else you can find to ride down the canal on. You’ll want to bring sandals, not flip flops, something like Teves with a back.
“You head up the highway a little past the golf course sign, then just head right and you’ll see a trail that Jonathan Young and Hernando Perez dug that leads you to the top of the canal where you get in. It’s a little hiking trail.
“So you slide in and it shoots you down. It’s about a five-minute ride, but it’s a blast. It’s cold water, but it’s rad. Sometimes we even go at night. In the spring the canal will be fuller. Now that it’s fall, it is getting shallow.
“During the winter we are fixing up the canal and hoping that it will ice over so we can also sled there,” stated Shreve.
The main focus of the canaling club is to give students cheap fun and build lasting friendships, while beautifying the area around the canal.
“There are a lot of branches that we are cutting and are making it nice by putting rocks down and picking up trash. We are hopefully going to put a picnic table so people have a place to sit. We are also thinking of throwing grass seed down, which we might do this fall.
“Come on out, give it a try. You don’t have to be a member of the club. It’s so much fun. Just show up Saturday at 10:30 am and join the few, the proud, the canalers,” expressed Shreve.