Growing up in the hills and hollers of Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, you always find yourself near the Tug River. Whether you are fishing, swimming, or just admiring its beauty it has its way of drawing you to its banks. When I started planning my events for the year I just knew that one of them would be something on the water. What better way to share my home and show it off than a nice float along its river? Float’em If Ya Got’em was created to be a family event. I wanted everyone to be able to experience the fun and the beauty of our river and to be able to share it with their family, kids, and friends. I have three children of my own and the water is always a fun place for us to be!!
It took a couple of months to get the float developed and planned out, but it was so worth it in the end. My husband was right along beside me the whole time and his encouragement and strength is what helped make the float such a huge success. I never knew the river had been getting so much attention in my area until I launched the event on our webpage. As soon as I did I had several local groups reach out to me and want to help make the float a success. Cabela’s was great! They donated a new Kayak to be given as a prize at my event. That was won by Trace Clark from Mingo County. Friends of the Tug River, East KY River Riders, and Solo Outdoors were all great also and I was so thankful that not only did they give words of advice throughout the planning process, but they and their families attended the float!
Overall we had 35 people show up for the event (the largest crowd to date for a Wildlife Women event) and out of those 35 people 29 floated the river with us! Some just showed up to show support! The float took us about 3.5 hours and we had everything from kayaks, to canoes, to giant floats shaped like Pegasus (you know the flying horse hahaha) and a party barge! The weather could not have been more perfect and all and all it was just an amazing day relaxing and enjoying the beauty of the world!