Students will soon have another chance to take advantage of the warm spring weather by kayaking on Baw Beese Lake.
Campus Health and Recreation will be purchasing three kayaks and three paddleboards for student use, using money from Student Federation.
On set days, the Student Directors of Campus Health and Recreation, juniors Rachael Hille and Jeff Meyers, will take the kayaks and paddleboards down to the lake. Students can show up at any point during the advertised time to use the boats.
“We’re trying to make this as convenient as possible for students,” Director of Student Activities Anthony Manno said.
The advertised times will start next fall, but if the warm weather continues to hold, there’s a possibility they will begin this semester.
Campus Health and Recreation has been discussing the idea of getting the boats since last September.
“The whole idea came from needing something else to do in Hillsdale, something for students to get out and have more community and really utilize Lake Baw Beese,” Hille said.
When Campus Health and Recreation came up with the idea to purchase the boats, they hoped this could be another activity that students participated in.
“That was our hope for this whole proposal — to find another way to have something for students to do,” Hille said. “So often, people are like: ‘Well, it’s Hillsdale.’ We don’t always have a lot to do or a lot of options around here. So, why not take something that we do have and give so many more ways to use it, like how beautiful Lake Baw Beese is. So, our hope is to bring more community and events for students to have fun and do something a little different than they’re used to.”
Campus Health and Recreation’s goal is to reach out to students through activities.
“This is the whole point of our organization, to get kids out to be active and be outside and whatnot,” Meyers said.
Meyers has put a tremendous amount of research into picking kayaks and paddleboards that will serve student use and last for years to come.
“They’re not super fancy ones. They’re a couple of kayaks from REI, just their standard,” Meyers said. “Not the lowest level, but like second level up. The standard paddle boards we got are also recreational style. Everything we got had very good reviews.”
All students who participate are sure to have a fun time.
“They’re just a lot of fun,” Meyers said. “It’s a good exercise because you can get exercise from paddling with them, but it’s also a lot of fun to just sit and float in the middle of the lake.”
