Kayak the Santa Fe set for March 3
IRISHWATERDOGS sponsors outdoor activities such as kayaking, sailing, hiking and fishing at no cost to veterans.
HIGH SPRINGS – A program geared specifically for veterans may be coming to High Springs. Mayor Sue Weller and City Manager Edwin Booth met with outdoors enthusiast and owner of Jacksonville-based IRISHWATERDOGS (IWD), Dave McDaid to discuss ways the City and McDaid could work together to bring a chapter of the IRISHWATERDOGS WARRIORS program to the area.
The two-year-old Warriors program was started by McDaid as a non-profit branch of IWD to thank veterans, especially those who have been injured, for their service to the country and to help them reintegrate into society.
“This is an incredibly rewarding program that helps injured veterans with not just their physical injuries, but their PTSD through the healing power of water,” McDaid said. The group is not limited to injured veterans, but embraces all veterans and also first responders.
“We are proud of our vets,” said McDaid with a touch of a Dublin accent. “We want to thank them in a big way for all they have done for this country.
“We encourage them to join us on the first Sunday of each month for outdoor activities they may have missed in recent years because of their service. We also encourage them to invite their children or other family members to share the time and activities with them as well,” he said.
Activities include kayaking, kayak fishing, sailing, nature walks, hiking, shore fishing and outdoor photography. “We start out with a hearty breakfast at 9 a.m., spend about four hours at whatever activity they choose and return for a good lunch and some music,” said McDaid about the monthly events.
“Everything is paid for by us and we always have a lot of volunteers as well. If you want to fish, we will provide everything you need to fish. If you want to kayak, we provide everything needed for that as well. This is our way of saying thank you. We expect no payment from the veterans at all.”
McDaid and Alee Karpf, Recreation Therapist from the VA Honor Center, 1604 SE 3rd Avenue, Gainesville, recently kayaked the Santa Fe River to plot a trip for the first High Springs event on Sunday, March 3. They put into the water at the first launch site off U.S. Highway 441 and journeyed to “the boil,” the place where the water goes underground at O’Leno State Park. “We want to make sure the area we are paddling through is right for our participants, so we check it out first,” said McDaid.
The group will take approximately six local injured veterans through the Santa Fe River route on Feb. 15 as a first small trial run.
Karpf said, “This program is very exciting for me. VA resources are not available for activities like this, although they are very therapeutic. This program doesn’t cost the taxpayers a penny.”
Each month Karpf and another staff member take two vans of 13-16 veterans to St. Augustine to participate in the monthly IRD program. “Many of our veterans are homeless and in transition,” explained Karpf. “We are helping them get on their feet again. The veterans who participate love it,” she said, “and talk about it for days.”
Karpf works with veterans teaching them how to enjoy healthy leisure and build it into their lives. “Many of our veterans love to fish and/or be on the water and haven’t had a chance to do that in a long time,” she said. When family members are able to join in the activities with the veterans, Karpf said they relax and relate to each other more completely.
Karpf is excited that the program is expanding to include photography. “Dave will be teaching that,” she said. Items that would be helpful to that program would be digital cameras to assign to the vets for their use during their trips. “We have computers the photographers could use to upload their photos,” she added.
McDaid says one way veterans learn about the program is through the VA. “Kathy Williams from the VA in Tampa sends out newsletters to the various hospitals, American Legion and Disabled American Veterans groups to help us get the word out,” he said. “We also have a forum on our web page so people can sign up for the activities they want to participate in.”
Like any non-profit organization helping others, IWDWarriors is always in need of donations and volunteer participation. “In many cities the Rotary Club, Lions Club, Women’s Club and other organizations help support our efforts either by fundraising, volunteering their time on the first Sunday of the month, or by cooking various foods to help feed our veterans,” McDaid said. “We like to get as much citizen participation as possible. It’s rewarding for all of our volunteers and participants and a really helpful way to give back to our veterans and first responders.”
IWD was started sort of by accident. McDaid originally started a blog called “celtickayak” in 2006. The first few t-shirts they created were for McDaid and his friends to advertise the blog, but the shirts became so popular on the water that they quickly ran out. Soon after, “IRISHWATERDOGS” was born as a separate place to buy the shirts and caps. Since that time their outdoor wear, outdoor events and charity tournaments have grown.
IWD is in several cities in Florida and throughout the U.S. Fernandina Beach, St. Augustine, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale and now, High Springs, are Florida cities participating in the IWD Warriors program.
Anyone wishing to support the IRISHWATERDOGS WARRIORS Program may do so by going to http://www.irishwaterdogswarriors.org/support.html. Anyone wishing to volunteer time or services to the program can contact Dave McDaid at dave@irishwaterdogs.com
# # #
Email Cwalker@
alachuatoday.com
Kayak the Santa Fe set for March 3
IRISHWATERDOGS sponsors outdoor activities such as kayaking, sailing, hiking and fishing at no cost to veterans.
HIGH SPRINGS – A program geared specifically for veterans may be coming to High Springs. Mayor Sue Weller and City Manager Edwin Booth met with outdoors enthusiast and owner of Jacksonville-based IRISHWATERDOGS (IWD), Dave McDaid to discuss ways the City and McDaid could work together to bring a chapter of the IRISHWATERDOGS WARRIORS program to the area.
The two-year-old Warriors program was started by McDaid as a non-profit branch of IWD to thank veterans, especially those who have been injured, for their service to the country and to help them reintegrate into society.
“This is an incredibly rewarding program that helps injured veterans with not just their physical injuries, but their PTSD through the healing power of water,” McDaid said. The group is not limited to injured veterans, but embraces all veterans and also first responders.
“We are proud of our vets,” said McDaid with a touch of a Dublin accent. “We want to thank them in a big way for all they have done for this country.
“We encourage them to join us on the first Sunday of each month for outdoor activities they may have missed in recent years because of their service. We also encourage them to invite their children or other family members to share the time and activities with them as well,” he said.
Activities include kayaking, kayak fishing, sailing, nature walks, hiking, shore fishing and outdoor photography. “We start out with a hearty breakfast at 9 a.m., spend about four hours at whatever activity they choose and return for a good lunch and some music,” said McDaid about the monthly events.
“Everything is paid for by us and we always have a lot of volunteers as well. If you want to fish, we will provide everything you need to fish. If you want to kayak, we provide everything needed for that as well. This is our way of saying thank you. We expect no payment from the veterans at all.”
McDaid and Alee Karpf, Recreation Therapist from the VA Honor Center, 1604 SE 3rd Avenue, Gainesville, recently kayaked the Santa Fe River to plot a trip for the first High Springs event on Sunday, March 3. They put into the water at the first launch site off U.S. Highway 441 and journeyed to “the boil,” the place where the water goes underground at O’Leno State Park. “We want to make sure the area we are paddling through is right for our participants, so we check it out first,” said McDaid.
The group will take approximately six local injured veterans through the Santa Fe River route on Feb. 15 as a first small trial run.
Karpf said, “This program is very exciting for me. VA resources are not available for activities like this, although they are very therapeutic. This program doesn’t cost the taxpayers a penny.”
Each month Karpf and another staff member take two vans of 13-16 veterans to St. Augustine to participate in the monthly IRD program. “Many of our veterans are homeless and in transition,” explained Karpf. “We are helping them get on their feet again. The veterans who participate love it,” she said, “and talk about it for days.”
Karpf works with veterans teaching them how to enjoy healthy leisure and build it into their lives. “Many of our veterans love to fish and/or be on the water and haven’t had a chance to do that in a long time,” she said. When family members are able to join in the activities with the veterans, Karpf said they relax and relate to each other more completely.
Karpf is excited that the program is expanding to include photography. “Dave will be teaching that,” she said. Items that would be helpful to that program would be digital cameras to assign to the vets for their use during their trips. “We have computers the photographers could use to upload their photos,” she added.
McDaid says one way veterans learn about the program is through the VA. “Kathy Williams from the VA in Tampa sends out newsletters to the various hospitals, American Legion and Disabled American Veterans groups to help us get the word out,” he said. “We also have a forum on our web page so people can sign up for the activities they want to participate in.”
Like any non-profit organization helping others, IWDWarriors is always in need of donations and volunteer participation. “In many cities the Rotary Club, Lions Club, Women’s Club and other organizations help support our efforts either by fundraising, volunteering their time on the first Sunday of the month, or by cooking various foods to help feed our veterans,” McDaid said. “We like to get as much citizen participation as possible. It’s rewarding for all of our volunteers and participants and a really helpful way to give back to our veterans and first responders.”
IWD was started sort of by accident. McDaid originally started a blog called “celtickayak” in 2006. The first few t-shirts they created were for McDaid and his friends to advertise the blog, but the shirts became so popular on the water that they quickly ran out. Soon after, “IRISHWATERDOGS” was born as a separate place to buy the shirts and caps. Since that time their outdoor wear, outdoor events and charity tournaments have grown.
IWD is in several cities in Florida and throughout the U.S. Fernandina Beach, St. Augustine, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale and now, High Springs, are Florida cities participating in the IWD Warriors program.
Anyone wishing to support the IRISHWATERDOGS WARRIORS Program may do so by going to http://www.irishwaterdogswarriors.org/support.html. Anyone wishing to volunteer time or services to the program can contact Dave McDaid at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
# # #
Email Cwalker@
alachuatoday.com