Pike Creek Kayak Club (PCKC)
03/21/22
Friendships are a mainstay of a happy life. There are certainly degrees of friendships, but from what I observe and what I have read, the friendship dynamics are very different between men and women. You can be great friends with people of both sexes but it seems women need their female friends just as much as guys need their guy friends. The details of the differences between these relationships is quite extraordinary, but everyone is aware of this fact. There have been a number of psychological, as well as sociological studies about this. Women need to have their own female friends as strongly as guys need their buddies. This seems a fact of life.
Many years ago, one of our group of friends went for a psychological assessment. He was a senior executive with GM, and had a yearly physical as well as mental assessment as part of his job. He was happily married with two daughters and did very well financially. His mother-in-law also lived at their home. The psychologist rightly asked about his extra curricular activities and if he had any male friends. He admitted to many friends of one degree or another but agreed that, he was not very active, socially or physically, out his work and home environments. This became a forum of discussion for us all. We had a fairly loose group of boyhood buddies, some through school, some via work, and some through marriage as in-laws. We all live on or near rivers, or a lake so had great access to watercraft of all kinds.
My home was, and is on Pike Creek which empties out onto Lake St. Clair. I am fortunate enough to have docks in my back yard allowing me to travel by water almost anywhere, but especially to my friends who lived along the lake. For Fathers Day over thirty years ago I was given a kayak by my wife and four children. I was ecstatic. So much so that I encouraged the family of another friend to purchase him a kayak of his own for Christmas. He also was ecstatic.
We took kayak lessons and learned the correct way to get in and out, how to paddle, and, somewhat less successfully, how to roll.
Our discussion led us to the formation of the Pike Creek Kayak Club. Headquarters in my back yard. About 6 other kayak purchases were made over the next few months. One member of our group, who seemed to have more time than the rest of us, manned the telephone to have us meet up for a kayak ride every Thursday night. These excursions included beer and rafting together out on the lake for Sushi.
As the weather grew colder, and ice started forming, we switched our weekly PCKC meetings to backyards and neighbourhood pubs. Our discussions were endless and the PCKC has endured to this day. We all help each other in many ways and it seems to have become a routine in our lives.
This group in o way interferes with our other friends but seems an entity into its own. We have shirts, jackets, as well as a flag. I seriously doubt the girls would go this far. Our membership continues to go up and down, but the core group remains. Under the influence of alcohol, we did induct a female member of the PCKC. Her recent move to Canada from England showed in her strong British accent. We thought she would give our organization a bit of class.
Her induction into our rank required her to pass our tests which involved a number of questions. Including how to spell Kayak backwards, with her eyes closed. She passed, …….but unfortunately does not kayak.
Another member, who is about 10 years older than us, requested membership because his friends were no longer physically active or had died. He has since become one of our highly esteemed members for many reasons. We now have subdivided into the non-athletic, or social divisions…. and the athletic division, those of us who kayak on a regular basis.
We have several people who wish to join our club, but we have voted unanimously to keep our standards high and not accept further applicants at this time.
Since our group has been so active for so many years, as you can imagine, there are many memories yet to come.
1) Clyde the Cannon
2) The rivers of Essex County
3) Lake Erie and the Eagles
4) The Northern Belle Casino
5) Trip to Amerstburg