Monday, October 30, 2023

See witches and warlocks paddle in Tarpon Springs

Luis Santana, Tampa Bay Times
Sun, October 29, 2023 


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Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

The group was started by Christine Irons about four years ago.

“Halloween is my favorite holiday and paddling my favorite activity. So, why not combine both,” Irons said.

She had admired the sight of witches paddling on the West Coast and decided to start a local group with some friends. The group started with 30 members and last year had over 130 participate in Tarpon Springs and over 150 in New Port Richey.

“I host one in Tarpon Springs on Saturday, and Sunday we do New Port Richey,” Irons said. “Both the Anclote and Pithlachascotee rivers offer a unique setting for this venue. The rivers pass by onlookers, waterfront estates, restaurants and shops so participants are able to engage with the land mortals.”

'Witches' spotted off the coast of Falmouth in charity paddleboard fundraiser

Sunday 29 October 2023 
People were all smiles seeing the group dressed head to toe in black with their witches hats
Credit: Kelsi Farrington

A group of 'witches' have been spotted swimming and paddleboarding off the coast of Falmouth.

The coven were fully in the Halloween spirit as they dodged the waves off Gyllyngvase beach.

The group of sixteen were raising money for Surfers Against Sewage who have staged a few creative paddle-outs in the past.

Organiser Kelsi Farrington says it was "wonderful" to have so many people dress up and join in - with some very funny moments.

"There were several times a few of us looked at each other, hats drenched and salt water running down our faces, and burst out laughing from a mixture of joy and amazement we were actually doing it."

It was mostly wave dodging and holding onto their hats for these witches
Credit: Kelsi Farrington

Admittedly the waves and the wind did make it challenging with riders staying on the water's edge and Kelsi was worried she might be the only witch on the beach.

"The weather forecast wasn’t looking promising and I half expected no one to turn up!"

"The waves and wind didn’t make it easy - that’s for sure - but as one of my fellow witches said, it kind of made it all the more fun."
Pets were even getting into the halloween spirit
Credit: Kelsi Farrington

The unusual moment caught the attention of a few half-term beachgoers with some asking if they could take their photo.

Kelsi says it was a good time to talk about the charity, Surfers Against Sewage, which they were dipping to fundraise for.

"I hope it inspires others - like the Surfers Against Sewage paddle out in May inspired me to be more vocal about keeping our oceans clean, suggest this idea, share their important work and become a member."

PHOTOS: Witches take over Kalamalka Lake in Vernon

More than 100 people got dressed up and brought their paddleboards to the lake Saturday

Brendan Shykora
a day ago

 
1 / 10 (Brendan Shykora - Morning Star)














Vernon got into the Halloween spirit Saturday, when Kalamalka Lake was covered head to foot in pointy hats and witchy costumes.

More than 100 people dressed up as witches and took part in a Halloween paddle at Kal Beach, enjoying beautiful fall weather Oct. 28.

Event organizer Ashley Reich was pleased with the turnout after the SUP Witches event she made on Facebook blew up.

“I had a whole bunch of people asking about if we were going to do one here,” said the creator of the popular SUP Okanagan Facebook page. “So I thought let’s just get one started, so I made an event and it just went viral, and here we are, so I’m very excited.”

For Reich, the event was a meeting between two of her passions: Halloween and paddleboarding.

“I myself am a huge Halloween fan, I just love it and I think it’s so important to get the community together as often as we can, especially for holidays like this,” she said. “Previously there have been paddles starting here on Kal Beach, but this year nobody really stepped up to do it so I thought I would do it myself.”

Reich goes paddling with her boyfriend, and any friends and family she can bring along, any chance she gets.

“That’s what we do, we spend almost all of our free time paddleboarding,” she said.

“I think paddleboarding is a must if you live in the Okanagan; you should definitely have a paddleboard,” Reich laughed. “It’s big here, the lakes are just beautiful.”

Reich says the plan is to create the event again next year, and the hope is it builds some more momentum and leads to even bigger turnouts in the future.

With clear skies and calm waters, Saturday was an ideal day on the lake.


“Let’s just hope nobody falls in.”

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