Standing Waves
ALF IS FOR THE OPEN-MINDED. PHOTO: COLIN MONEYPENNY
ONE MAN’S MISSION TO PROVE CANOEING IS ALIVE AND KICKING MARCH MADNESS
What do you call it when dozens of open boaters meet each March in a Shoney’s parking lot before descending on the rivers of eastern Tennessee? “Call it anything you want,” said notoriously outspoken Michael
“Louie” Lewis at the inaugural event seven years ago. So the story goes, when someone suggested Lewis as the namesake, he re- sponded, “Hell no! It ain’t Louie Fest.” The name stuck and Lewis, an outspoken Lenoir, Tennessee native, has remained a driving force behind Ain’t Louie Fest (ALF) ever since. Tired of hearing that open boating was a relic sport, Lewis took
action. “I decided to find out just how many old guys there really were left canoeing,” he recalls. At the time, he was maintenance manager for Dagger. Aware that a strong community of Cana- dian open boaters had been flocking to the area during their spring break, Lewis seized the opportunity. “They had the original Louie Fest back on my fiftieth birthday
down on the Ocoee,” Lewis says. “We had a few hundred show up for that.” Because of the casual nature of the festival, it’s hard to know exactly how many people have attended in recent years. It’s definitely not just old guys. “I would say 250 or more come for anywhere from one to all 10 days,” he adds. ALF offers something for everyone. Paddlers can join crews running tame class II runs like Upper Clear Creek right up to
22 PADDLING THIS MONTH || March 2013
pushier class V rivers like the Green and Raven Fork. There is a race down the Tellico and this year a one-night film festival re- stricted to canoeing-themed movies is set to take place for the first time. While a handful of kayakers quietly join the fun, ALF is widely considered to be for open boaters only. Despite Lewis’ misgivings towards folks who hint at the demise
of open boating, in recent years the canoeing industry has report- ed waning participation rates and sales figures (www.rapidmag. com/0076). You’d never know it at ALF. So what types of people are keeping open boating alive? “Mostly
weird ones,” Lewis muses. He rhymes off a laundry list of person- alities expected to show up to ALF. “The youngest to run Tellico’s 15-foot Baby Falls was 11. The oldest...older than dirt. Class V adrenaline junkies and class I girls. First timers; butt boat con- verts; once-a-yearers. Moonshiners who recognize a sellers’ mar- ket. Has-beens, newbies and groupies.” Lewis’ reflex to stir the pot turns off some (mostly kayakers).
But niche or not, he continues to unapologetically declare open boating is here to stay. For most canoeists the sense of stubborn community is charming. “We are a strange group for sure,” says Lewis. “Whitewater paddlers are misfits and single stickers are the misfits among misfits.” —Michael Mechan Read the full interview with Lewis at
www.rapidmag.com/0077.
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