Commissioner launched from kayak during kayak launch dedication
MONONGAHELA – A Washington County commissioner took an unexpected dip in the Monongahela River after trying out a new kayak launch Thursday in the city that bears the same name as the waterway.
Commissioner Harlan Shober was up to his chin in the drink after his kayak overturned while he and the two other county commissioners, Larry Maggi and Diana Irey Vaughan, were traveling together in separate boats after they christened the new docks at the Second Street boat launch.
“I lost my dignity,” said a dripping wet Shober after he was rescued from the river by Maggi and a bystander on the docks. “I didn’t lose anything else,” he said after noticing his eyeglasses were still in the pocket of his muddied white shirt.
The commissioners and others had gathered here about 2 p.m. to celebrate one of three new kayak launches in Washington County that were purchased under a program named Mon River Towns that focuses on community and economic development and connecting towns to the river.
The program aims for residents to not focus on the Mon’s past pollution problems and know that today it’s a “fabulous and beautiful river,” said Donna Holdorf, a co-leader of the program.
“Today, we’re here to launch the launch,” Holdorf said.
Shober was the third commissioner to take to the river in a kayak after they participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the launch, which was made possible under a $246,000 state grant. The other launches are in Charleroi and Fredericktown.
“These are the little things that make our communities special,” said Maggi before he maneuvered his kayak with ease.
Maggi, a retired Pennsylvania state trooper, quickly went to Shober after his kayak overturned and helped to get Shober back to the docks by pulling on his orange life jacket, parts of which came loose and floated above his head.
Two hours later, when contacted by phone, Maggi said Shober is fine, other than “being a little wet.”
“His pride is hurt more than anything else,” Maggi said.
AdventureTRAC, a company in Sutersville, plans to rent kayaks at the Monongahela docks on Saturdays and Sundays, beginning at 9 a.m. Call 412-554-3829 to reserve a kayak in Monongahela.