Celebrating our 75th year!

On May 17, 2025 approximately 100 of us boarded the Rip Van Winkle to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Mid Hudson Rowing.

Current and past club members, along with their friends and families, gathered to celebrate, reunite, and reminisce. The forecasted rain never arrived, and we were treated to a truly beautiful evening on the Hudson River.

In addition to the incredible turnout, the event was a great success thanks to the tireless efforts of the MHRA Events Committee, who planned and coordinated every detail. A heartfelt thank you to Natalie Quinn and her team, Lorrie Renz, Jim Lukas , Helen Buhler, the spirit of Gail Moran, for their hard work.

A special thank you to Bill Davies for his detailed presentation on MHRA’s history, and to John Mylod and Bud Tschudin, whose contributions were instrumental in shaping that legacy.

And finally, thank you to Candy Davies, our current president, who delivered the following heartfelt speech titled “Why We Row.”

It was an evening to remember, and a perfect tribute to 75 years of rowing on the Hudson.

Why We Row, by Candy Davies:

We’re here this evening celebrating 75 years of Mid Hudson Rowing Association. We might not have had those 75 years without the leadership and dedication of Bud Tschudin and John Mylod, who kept the club going years ago, so we had the chance to be here tonight.

Mid Hudson has been part of my life for almost 30 years, some of you have been involved for many more years.  What does Mid Hudson mean to you?  What makes you return, year after year?  Well, let’s think about what we do, season after season… yes, we row! And… we carry oars, move launches, find slings, cross our fingers that the lifts work, sort out the lineups, carry the boats, and then we row!  While on the water, we wait out coach wakes, barge wakes, fishermen and yacht wakes, and then, we row!

When we were rowing out of Quiet Cove, John Mylod would guide us safely along the river from his big fishing launch, use his marine radio to ask the barges to slow for us, and … read us “Prince Valiant” comics during water breaks.  At Quiet Cove, we had a basic, “bare bones” type of set up – we built our own outdoor boat and oar racks, topped them with super-large picnic canopies, and built a platform and ramp to our plastic “jet float” dock.  Some current and former members, including Kurt Quackenbush, Bill Enichen, Bill Davies, John Mylod, the late Randy Harwood, and others, got wet and cold in the annual spring installation.  Now, we still help with dock installations and cope with a leaky roof, but we are much happier with the boathouse locker rooms than a porta-potty.

Over the years, coaches and scullers have become amateur meteorologists, as we scour weather sites daily to find the forecast we want and need.  We show up to row in our hi-viz yellow or orange, or our team’s bright blue.  In the summer, we slather on sunscreen; in the early spring and fall, we layer up with hats and vests and wool socks.  In the dark, we drive to the river and marvel at the full moon lighting up the water; we turn on headlamps, bow lights, and rigger lights, and we row.  Some days, we arrive hopeful, only to sigh when the fog lowers and lifts, and lowers and lifts, then lowers for good.  We groan in disappointment when the wind whips up white caps, and if we are already on the water, we row our fastest back to the dock, most likely getting wet along the way.  On the mornings when we get to the river and can’t row, you’ll find us remaining awhile on the dock or in the boathouse, talking and laughing together, rather than turning around and leaving immediately, because we are friends, not only boatmates.

On the best days, when the river is calm, perhaps even mirror-flat, the sun is shining, and the air is balmy, we smile in happy anticipation, we move all that equipment around, and then we row.  Every year, just before we return to the river, we watch the same safety movie.  During the year, we laugh, catch up on family news, vacation plans, work news, share our latest rowing achievements, perhaps a boat purchase, and debate which are the best sculling oars. We eat pancakes and share potluck favorites; we enjoy pizza and beer and wine while we reminisce about our favorite parts of the season. In June and July, we share our rowers’ joy with a new bunch of novices, hoping that some of them will understand the secret and join us to row some more.  We gather our “treasures” to sell on the church yard and outbid one another on cool auction stuff. We clean boats and oars and bays, wash towels, rig and de-rig boats, find new batteries for our bow lights, fill gas cans, decipher coach-speak, coax our muscles to take the perfect stroke, and cheer one another in races.  Over and over, we move all those launches, slide a couple into the river, roll out racks of singles, carry the oars, hoist the boats “up over head,” and then, we row.

Mid Hudson is our antidote to work stress and family challenges, it’s our exercise and our social connections, it’s why we return year after year, and also, to row.  Thank you.

A special thank you also goes to Steven Howard for the lovely photos! All photos available here.