Sean and Alan Ishii communicate often, and Alan keeps me posted on Sean's progress. It's good to see him back in the water even if it's only knee deep.
All of boat racing is praying for you, Sean!
Sean and Alan Ishii communicate often, and Alan keeps me posted on Sean's progress. It's good to see him back in the water even if it's only knee deep.
All of boat racing is praying for you, Sean!
Got to spend some quality time with Sean, Bob, and Don Rusnak at Constantine. Sean was a HUGE help and he is happy to be back in the pits. Looking forward to seeing them again soon.
Charley Bradley
A couple years ago Wayne Baldwin told me about some pictures he had taken but never had the opportunity to have autographed by the people in the picture. So I started to go back and take some of my better pictures and do just that. I started with this one , altho new from this year , it is never to early to start. Thanks Wayne for the inspiration.
The fight continues thanks to Village President Eric Bryant. This is out of the local newspaper.
http://www.bcrnews.com/2015/08/28/br...istic/a72ha4o/
I hope for your successful efforts Dale. The only time I ever blew over was in C Hydro at DePue when I passed over a sudden rise in the lake bottom. I think Sean McKean was severely injured when he blew over at the same place years ago, and don't know for sure, but from what I heard, it was the same place that Jerry Drake blew over and was killed.
My Marchetti cleared the trees on the opposite shore from the viewpoint of the pits. I don't remember falling. I think I must have passed out from fear...or altitude. Nonetheless, I was lucky to have ended up feet first. My legs and lower body were in muck. From about my waist up to my neck was the water we were racing in. I had clasped my hands above my head after I had come to rest signaling the officials and rescue people that I was OK, but I could not move. I was pretty much stuck in something a little firmer than quicksand. Maybe it was my Gentex life Jacket that kept me from sinking further.
When the rescue crew got there, both of them grabbed me by each arm to pull me in. The john boat just healed over and was about to swamp. They backed off and started to pull me in slowly, but the john boat tilted over again. One of the guys jumped into the water, and he grabbed me under the armpits and pushed while the guy in the boat pulled my arms, and they were able to break the suction of the muck and get me aboard. Billy Seebold told me I wouldn't be able to race in the finals and he was right.
While I was stove up in the pits on Saturday with some cracked ribs and a stiff neck, one of the local DePue residents came up to me to tell me about the river. I wish I could remember his name. After seeing what I had gone through he began to tell me how that river, or backwater (can't remember for sure) had gotten silted up. He had told me that when he was a little boy that the water there was thirty feet deep. The discharges from the zinc smelter had filled up that body of water. Some I am sure had washed away in flooding, etc., but the heavy stuff would have settled. That was in 1972, so the guy from DePue would have been talking about 1942 when Lake DePue was deeper and much cleaner water.
All I am doing is keeping the racing community up to date on what is going on with the lake. Village President Eric Bryant and the city council are the ones doing all the work. We all want the same end result , the cleanup of the village of DePue.
Well I guess the State of Illinois can get something accomplished.
http://newstrib.com/m/Articles.aspx?ArticleID=51375
Just doing what DePue does to ensure the races will go on. Just a shame that a permanent solution cant be agreed upon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Hc...ature=youtu.be
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