Episode 16: Jefferson Dad Vail Day 1

[00:00:08] Speaker A: Welcome to the gather. We are so excited. We are here at the 87th Jefferson Dadvale Regatta and we have with us today Kirsten Marasco and Brad Nygard. And so before we get started, I would if you guys wouldn't mind giving us a little bit of a background of each of you. Kind of. Introduce yourself, Kirsten. [00:00:29] Speaker B: So I'm Kirsten and I'm the president of the Dadville Regatta organizing committee. And essentially our committee is the committee that organizes and stages this regatta. [00:00:39] Speaker C: Brad, that's it? You work all year long and that's it? That's all you can come up with? So my name's Brad Neagard. I rode here in 1973 as a freshman and I have only missed two dad bales since then. One was Covid and one was an injury that I could not get on the airplane. So otherwise I've been here and whatever was in the water back in 1973, I drank it and here we are. [00:01:09] Speaker B: That was the Schuylkill back then. [00:01:10] Speaker C: That was it. [00:01:13] Speaker B: He did not want to drink that. [00:01:14] Speaker A: It was the Schuylkill. Right. So how long have we been on the Cooper? [00:01:17] Speaker B: We've been on the Cooper for four years now. [00:01:19] Speaker C: Wow. [00:01:20] Speaker B: This is our fourth year. [00:01:21] Speaker D: It's a beautiful race course. Do you like it being run here? [00:01:25] Speaker B: Gorgeous Race course and the surrounding community could not be more welcoming and it really is a great place to stage a regatta. [00:01:33] Speaker D: Fantastic. [00:01:33] Speaker C: And as the operations person, I mean there's such support by having a hosting venue. So we don't just pull into a parking lot, but the parking lot already has employees that help set up things and help us with the race course. So things that we used to have to do by our own volunteers are done by the hosting venue which is Camden County Boathouse and so forth. And it's been a great, great savings making in the regatta. Much better. Yeah. [00:02:04] Speaker A: You know, I was talking earlier to one of the volunteers who has been here forever I would say and it really struck me how much of a volunteer community you have. It really does take a village to run this regatta. [00:02:16] Speaker B: It really does. [00:02:17] Speaker C: Yeah. Kirsten has said I'm going to get paid twice as much next year so I can't even a cup of coffee with that. [00:02:25] Speaker B: We do have an amazing group of people who come back every year. And what's very interesting about this frogata is that a lot of the people that are here have family connections. So oftentimes, you know, I'm here because my father used to be on the Dadvale board and run this Frogata. You know, Brad's connection is through rowing as well, and through his family. And so really, we have a lot of families here that come down, you know, year after year. And kids are born and they come down. So it really is. It's a. It's a really nice family. [00:02:55] Speaker C: Last. Last year I worked with your son and he was all part of the camera crew. And so, you know, now he's off in Europe gallivanting. But he's going to college, he says. He's going to college, he says we'll [00:03:06] Speaker B: see when the grades come in. So again, we see rowing bringing people [00:03:09] Speaker D: together in a community. [00:03:10] Speaker A: It's really fantastic. Or gathering people. [00:03:13] Speaker D: Gathering. [00:03:13] Speaker C: Yeah, we are gathering here. And you're exactly right. You know, the past president, Jim Hanna, always says, never row. That is the way he signs off, because if you do, you're going to be hooked. So, you know, that is really the truth of it. We all look forward to being here. There's quite an effort to get here, but this is a great weekend. And my thought process is I'm just trying to give back to the people who provided that opportunity for me. I'm standing on shoulders that are generations deep. So, you know, this is the 87th. I'm only 72, so I wasn't going to be 87. [00:03:55] Speaker B: I was. [00:03:58] Speaker C: Now I know. [00:03:59] Speaker D: Well, I know there's quite a few major races happening this weekend. You've got a few championships and qualifying events. Can you talk a little bit about some of the special races that are happening here at the regatta? [00:04:10] Speaker B: So I'll start with our. What I'll call special but not collegiate races. So tomorrow we'll have an alumni race, which is great because alumni from the various schools come back. You know, they've rode in Dadvale before. They come together, they get a boat together and they come back. And it's really fun to see because we'll have a couple boats that I'll call, you know, from more recent grads, and then we'll have a couple boats that are a little more seasoned and from, you know, from years ago, including our 50th anniversary, women's team, Ithaca. They're going to be rowing tomorrow, which is amazing. [00:04:46] Speaker C: And that's the 50th. They were the first women to row at the dad Bale, and they are the winner of that event 50 years ago. So that's a really. And there's a lot of programs that did start women's programs about 50 years ago. So this is kind of a common theme through the Regattas and through the universities that this is the 50th anniversary of women's rowing in a lot of levels. [00:05:07] Speaker B: Yeah, that's amazing. It's exciting to see. And it was so it's amazing to see these women come back and, you know, excited to be part of this. And so we're. It'll be tomorrow will be great to see them, to see them come down the river again. And they have not done that probably in about 50 years. So it'll be great. It's remarkable. And then following that, we'll have our cancer survivor row, which is, I think, our third year now of the cancer survivor joining us, which is again, you know, we have these amazing people who've gone through this battle with cancer, used rowing as a way to recover and kind of renew. And so they'll come tomorrow and we'll have four boats coming down the river again. And getting to see them is exciting to just watch. And this is all before we even get to the colleges coming down, right? Universities that have been rowing all year round waiting for this. Right. And we have 71amazing teams who are looking to take the gold home. And we are going to see some serious competition tomorrow. I mean, it's going to be fierce, fierce. [00:06:09] Speaker C: You know, we have programs from Western Ontario and we have three programs from California that are here. And so we are a national competition. And what's kind of fun this year is the first year for a new category which will get men's and women's points trophy for the small boat championship. About half of our programs do not have the number of people to row an 8 fast enough, but they do have smaller boats, the fours and the pairs. And those now have an opportunity to get a points trophy and have a banner to put up in their gymnasium or in their boathouse, just like the big programs that are going to try to win the eights. So you have the all points trophy for the large programs that have 100 athletes on it. And now we have a championship for the programs that have 40. And it's just as valuable. [00:07:04] Speaker B: Yeah, it's great. And I think those teams are really excited. And we've seen actually an increase, I think, this year in some of our smaller boats and an increase in the number of teams, you know, bringing just maybe one or two smaller boats if they can't bring the eight. So I think hopefully we've created a welcoming environment for those teams as well. [00:07:23] Speaker C: I know for a fact I saw an email that one team had an eight, but it was mediocre. So they broke it down into two fours and they said, we're going for the championship. That's awesome. [00:07:33] Speaker E: That's really fun. [00:07:35] Speaker C: Yeah. So exactly what we wanted, you know, exactly what we wanted was a competition at that level that they feel like they're taking home the gold and the all points trophy. [00:07:46] Speaker D: That's amazing. [00:07:46] Speaker C: And then we also have sculling. That's kind of new. That's new to us as well. Last year was when we opened that door. And you know, I'm going to say for the 85 times before sculling was a. Was a very minor aspect, colleges weren't embracing it. But again, you have programs and, and the thing that I like about rowing is that everyone that walks into the boathouse generally can race on, on weekends. So there's a notch a. A spot for you. You might be in an 8, you might be in a 4, you might be in a single, a double or a quad now. So sculling, we have, I think about 90 sculling entries this year, which is about a third of our. A third of our events are sculling. So that has caught on by wildfire. And we're very thrilled with that. Yeah. [00:08:32] Speaker B: Yes, we are. [00:08:34] Speaker A: I love this because it's really a nod to the tradition of the regatta too. Right, right. To bring in schools and programs that haven't been able to engage in that high level of competition before and giving them a space to do that. Right. The ones who didn't have the equipment, who didn't have access to the regattas, who didn't have the resources. [00:08:54] Speaker C: Well, that is really the. I'm going to say the, the root, the core, the heart of the Dodvale Regatta. I mean, it, it is open for you show up, you get to race. And we're trying to support the programs that are emerging and the smaller programs and. Because at some point they become big programs, but they got to get started. [00:09:12] Speaker B: Yeah, that's right. [00:09:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:09:14] Speaker A: I mean, I mean, look at. I'm biased to the men's heavyweight program. So, I mean, look at Drexel, La Salle and Temple now. Right. They're all in the top 20 D1 programs. To your point. There's going to be some. Really, there's going to be some great racing. [00:09:27] Speaker C: And the California crews did not drive 3,500 miles for no reason. They are coming. They're looking at that trophy as well. [00:09:36] Speaker B: But what I do love is that we do still have events for those programs that are up and coming for the clubs. Right. Who may not be funded as well, who may, you know, who are, are coming here and racing and it's their, it's their championship as well. Even though they might not have quite the support financially or even structurally behind them. Yeah, yeah. [00:09:56] Speaker C: And another thing that's really fun is a whole other event. We don't, we're trying to grow this one, but it's the para rowing. [00:10:02] Speaker A: Oh yeah. [00:10:03] Speaker C: So we have adaptive rowing. Now here's the catch for this. We have worked a deal with the US Rowing Organization and the top athlete, male and female, will be accepted into the para High performance Rowing Camp this summer. [00:10:18] Speaker A: Oh, that's so awesome. [00:10:20] Speaker C: So they will. This is an automatic qualifier for them. So we have four national caliber para rowers that are competing here. Now the real treasure is that we have a sponsor, Blackwell Dueling, they have, providing $2,000 stipend to the winner, male and female, to help pay for their cost while they go to the camp. So it's a real special. Makes me, you know, just emotionally proud that we're able to help these people. Yeah. [00:10:53] Speaker A: That's so incredible because we've talked a lot about access to the sport and how the financial barriers can be really significant. I mean, even for, you know, someone who's pretty financially stable sometimes, you know, spending 5, 6, $7,000 to do a national camp, it makes it really, really difficult. So to be able to bring that community together to send rowers and help send rowers to the highest level. They're there, they're doing the work, they deserve it. They have the speed. It's just such a cool thing to bring to this regatta. [00:11:21] Speaker C: Yeah. In my hometown we started an adaptive rowing program associated with the university, Jacksonville University. And you know, I didn't know really what to expect. It was, you know, but they're champions. They get out in the morning and have, you know, difficulties that we just don't understand. And they get up and go and for them to shove off the dock and see their wheelchair on the dock or their crutches or all the other parts on the dock and they're out scooting away on a rowing shell. They cry. I cry. [00:11:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:58] Speaker C: It's just, it's so cool. [00:12:00] Speaker B: It's special. [00:12:00] Speaker A: It is special. There's a place for everybody in rowing and there's a place for everybody at Dadvale. [00:12:05] Speaker B: That's exactly right. Well said. [00:12:08] Speaker C: That's a bumper sticker. I think we have a bumper sticker. [00:12:11] Speaker B: I think so. T shirts. [00:12:14] Speaker E: So one of the things I've noticed. So you both are wearing yellow blazers, which is clearly A kind of trademark thing. You see the yellow blazers all around. What does it take to get a yellow blazer? [00:12:26] Speaker B: Are you looking for one? [00:12:29] Speaker C: Maybe you're just getting started. [00:12:32] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:12:32] Speaker C: Here you are, first year, and so you're getting started. [00:12:37] Speaker B: So the gold jacket is supposed to represent sort of the longevity with the regatta. Right. So typically what we do is we, you know, after 10 years of service to the regatta, you know, especially if you've been very involved, we award, you know, our volunteers with this lovely gold jacket. [00:12:52] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:12:52] Speaker B: Which is very special. And it does mean a lot to the volunteers of the organization because they recognize that it's, you know, it has meaning behind it. So. And it's. It makes us very identifiable up and down the race course. So if you see a gold jacket, you know, you can stop and ask them a question, right? [00:13:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:08] Speaker E: Well, I mean, it's just such a test. I mean, seeing the number of them around. And so when people see sort of the picture of you all for our. I wanted them to know what that was about. But the seeing the number of people that just have come back for over a decade and continue to contribute to making this possibility, it's just really a testament to what you as an organization clearly put together and how valued you make everyone feel. You've been so welcoming to us. So we just wanted to say how grateful we are to have you welcome us here and what a great day [00:13:42] Speaker B: to have you here. [00:13:42] Speaker C: I have a cool story. So this. My dad was a gold jacket recipient as well. And so family again. Back to family. And that's kind of why I'm trying to tie this together. So when he wasn't able to travel to the dad Bale, he'd put on his jacket and walk around the house and listen to the dad Bale on the regatta. And when he passed, he asked for the jacket to go back to the dad Bale. And it did. Oh, wow. And it was presented to me. [00:14:07] Speaker D: Oh, my God. [00:14:08] Speaker E: Isn't that amazing? [00:14:10] Speaker C: So I'm wearing Dad's jacket. [00:14:11] Speaker D: That's wonderful. Well, I was thinking about the Ithaca crew that you mentioned, and I know they're going to join us on our podcast, too, and we're so excited about that. But we talked to them briefly before we were going to sit down to talk with them, and they said that eight of their nine rowers from 1976 are here. I think it's all but one. I mean, that's remarkable when you think about how people can scatter to the winds in 50 years time. This must be so important. And they must know that this place is like coming home for eight out of those nine women to come back here, like, that's really a testament, I think. [00:14:45] Speaker B: And so it is a testament. And each year we honor our 50th anniversary team. So we will have a men's team here this year as well. 50th anniversary. And then we honor our 25th anniversary teams as well. So it is, it always amazes me each year that these teams who maybe they haven't seen each other, you know, in 20 or 30 years, they come back here just for this and they reconnect and they are very excited, Right. To see each other and to tell their stories and talk about, you know, what it's like when they won the dad Bale. And it really is fun to see. [00:15:15] Speaker D: It's fantastic. [00:15:17] Speaker A: And it gets really unique. [00:15:18] Speaker C: I will say that, you know, in our family, that our closest friends and my two sons rode, my sister rode, my wife rode, our closest friends are the people that we rode with. And we do look for each other and we really do enjoy each other. So any opportunity to get together is, you know, it's just. We are brothers and sisters. [00:15:38] Speaker A: Yeah. I think it's. What I found fascinating about this regatta, which I've never been to this regatta before, is there's a sense of history and connection to the past that I haven't felt at other regattas. And I think it's pretty unique to Dodd Vale. Right. I. I read about the yellow jackets or the gold jackets before I came, and I was expecting to see sort of one or two because, you know, having a volunteer come back for 10 years is significant. [00:16:03] Speaker C: Right. [00:16:04] Speaker A: And I. For those of you listening who haven't been to Dadville, they're all over the place. This is not just five or 10 people. And I think that's. It's. I think it's just so cool, this connection, current and past and the connection all up and down the chain. I think it's really unique for a regatta experience. That that's, that's my big takeaway so far. [00:16:23] Speaker C: Yeah. And I think, I think another thing that's unique about it because I've gone to lots and lots of races and a lot of times it's just the parents and you watch the boats go by and there's a Urarra and there's a. A couple easy ups and it's over. You look down this, there's 30,000 people just wandering around here, and there's a beer tent, a beer garden, food trucks. There's people having fun. And this is just preliminary day, right? [00:16:47] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:16:47] Speaker C: I mean, it's astounding how we really, really have pulled a lot of people here and they are family, friends and alums. [00:16:55] Speaker B: So get in your car right now if you're listening to this. Drive yourself up here, wherever you are. [00:17:00] Speaker E: Exactly right. [00:17:03] Speaker A: And come grab a Dadvale. I. Yeah. [00:17:05] Speaker B: A Dadville Pale Ale from Double Nickel. [00:17:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:17:09] Speaker B: I love it and it is delightful. I've already tried it. [00:17:11] Speaker C: Yeah, no, it's an awesome flavor. It has a nice crisp flavor. It's my very favorite. [00:17:18] Speaker E: Well, there's so much organization that has to be behind the scenes in something like this. And you both are at the center of all of that. So does planning for the next year's regatta start Sunday? [00:17:29] Speaker B: Pretty much. Pretty much. [00:17:31] Speaker C: I've already got notes. Exactly. I've already got notes. [00:17:36] Speaker B: So our organizing committee does. We meet almost monthly all through the year. And we do really, you know, we leave this regatta and we, you know, learn from what we've done and we try to get better. [00:17:49] Speaker E: I'm just gonna point out something that's amazing. So he has Mission impossible as the ringtone. [00:17:56] Speaker C: Do I get to accept my next mission? [00:17:58] Speaker D: This is live radio, folks. [00:18:01] Speaker C: This will self destruct. [00:18:03] Speaker E: Yeah, I hope it exactly right. [00:18:05] Speaker B: You better accept your next miss. [00:18:08] Speaker E: But it is quite an organization. So is there fundraising that happens all year? Is it all done through the regatta dues that are paid? How does this. [00:18:17] Speaker B: That is an excellent question because a lot. So we look to have sponsors and partners. Right. And which we are lucky because right now we have. Thomas Jefferson University has been our sponsor and has been for the last few years. And so their financial support obviously really helps drive a lot of what happens here. But then we have other sponsors that we have all different levels of sponsor who also are supporting this regatta. Right. Which is very important because really in terms of the race fees only cover so far. Right. And what we do try to do is we try to obtain sponsorships so that we can keep the racing fees for the schools as low as we can. Right. Because as we said, a lot of these programs, you know, are not as well resourced as some rowing programs are. So we want, we don't want anybody not to be able to come to this. So it is from a standpoint of organizationally, yes, we have to plan all year end. But besides that, we are oftentimes talking with potential partners who would want to sponsor the Dadvale because we also see it as a great, quite frankly, marketing opportunity for companies. Right. Oh, yeah, we have an 18 to 23 demographic, you know, on our, for two days. Right. Plus we, with our live streaming, we reach, you know, across the country. So if anybody's listening, you want to be a sponsor, please call me. But no, but so. And we do. [00:19:40] Speaker E: So we'll put your cell phone number in. [00:19:42] Speaker B: Listen, that's what it takes. I'm in. But we do, we do truly appreciate the companies that do sponsor us and we are thankful for their support. And what is really nice is we have several companies that keep coming back year after year, which is really great. So we appreciate that. [00:19:57] Speaker C: And then we will reduce this 16 hours of broadcast down to one hour and it'll boil it down and it'll be some of the top races that for the weekend. And it goes on to NBC Sports in this area out to 2.5 million people. So. So we're excited about that and, and, you know, we're thrilled. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:20:19] Speaker A: So cool. [00:20:20] Speaker B: We're lucky. [00:20:20] Speaker A: I just have one random question. [00:20:22] Speaker D: Okay. [00:20:23] Speaker A: So things don't always go smoothly in regattas, right. And I know we're only a quarter of the way through, but I'm curious, has anything like wild happened so far where you're like, oh, my gosh, what's going on? [00:20:33] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, we're doing a podcast that's pretty wild. [00:20:36] Speaker B: Like, this is new for me so far, so far, knock on wood. You know, this morning's been smooth. We're running on time, which is great. We have a very seasoned group of volunteers who know racing right. And understand the river and understand the weather and the mechanics of how to make this regatta happen. And we are always thinking ahead, looking at weather, let's say, and saying, do we need to adjust? Do we need to change our schedule? And we don't like to do that, but if we have to, we will pivot. And right now we're okay. We're doing well. And I have no doubt that the weather is just going to be perfect tomorrow and that we'll have no problems. Of course. [00:21:17] Speaker C: And I do think, based on what I heard last night, is there running, running a few extra races today. [00:21:22] Speaker D: Okay. [00:21:23] Speaker C: To lighten the load of the amount of races tomorrow. So we have a little bit more flexibility to adjust if weather did come in. Now we know it's. It may be cloudy and we heard that it might spritz maybe and that's no problem. [00:21:39] Speaker D: Yeah, Spritzing, we can handle it, right? [00:21:41] Speaker B: It's a water sport, right? As we all know, water cooled, this is an all weather sport. Unless it lights, lightnings. [00:21:47] Speaker C: I think it's the only reason we stopped. [00:21:48] Speaker E: Unless Ben Franklin is doing an experiment. [00:21:51] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly, exactly. So if someone wants to put Dadvale [00:21:54] Speaker A: on their calendar for next year and [00:21:55] Speaker B: be a volunteer, how do they get involved? Excellent question. So we have our website, dadvale.org, which has all of our information on it, including how to volunteer. And typically, as we get closer, we have actual, like a sign up genius where you can, you know, pick what you want to do, but if you want to get more involved in that, we have some contact information there. They can reach out to us. And we always are looking for new volunteers. And we are always the second Saturday in May, Mother's Day weekend. Well, not always Mother's Day weekend, because every five years Mother's Day falls on a different weekend, but we are always the second Saturday in May, so you can always find us. And no rowing experience required. No rowing experience required. [00:22:38] Speaker C: In fact, just enthusiasm. [00:22:40] Speaker B: Yep. It's funny, our one really great volunteer, Rick, he handles our alumni tents for those fun, you know, brightly colored tents down there. And Rick came to us because he worked for Jefferson, and so in the early years of Jefferson's sponsorship, he just would come to see the regatta and he loved it. Well, the next thing you know, he coordinates all of our alumni tents. Never rode. Loves to come down to this. Right. So we take. We take everybody. [00:23:06] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:07] Speaker E: Well, we've talked a lot about the joy of being out on the side of a river on a beautiful day like this. [00:23:12] Speaker B: Who doesn't love this? [00:23:13] Speaker E: I mean, this is just incredible. So I hope everyone considers the same thing. We know you guys are very busy and so don't want to keep you forever, but we appreciate the time that you've taken to talk with us and we're excited to continue to just share all of the fun things that are happening at Dadvale this weekend and getting that out to folks. So thank you so much. [00:23:35] Speaker B: Well, thanks for having us so much. [00:23:38] Speaker C: I'm so pleased you're here. You're on the air for the first time. [00:23:41] Speaker B: There you go. I'm really excited about this. [00:23:44] Speaker D: Thanks a lot. [00:23:45] Speaker C: The fame will be overwhelming, so don't hit pause. [00:23:48] Speaker A: We'll see you on the other side of the Splash for the next one. [00:23:51] Speaker E: Absolutely.