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The air was
still redolent with the smell of charred wood and melted plastic. It had been
two days since Osprey Sea Kayak at the Head of Westport was torched at the end
of June. The entire inventory of fifty-two kayaks had been incinerated, melted
or disfigured. Spring had arrived. There were paddling classes to teach, kayak
programs contracted well into the summer, and the rental season was just
underway. And no kayaks.
You
couldn’t smell it but the atmosphere was also charged with incredulity, shock,
and distress. That’s precisely when nineteen-year-old Osprey Sea Kayak guide
Isabel Mattia started creating sparks of her own.
“Two days
after the fire, Isabel marched up to me and said, ‘We’ve got to do something to
recover. And I’ll take care of it.’” Sam Ladd said Sunday afternoon as she
watched more than 200 people stream into the green and white tent pitched near
their store at the Head of Westport.
“After the
fire, tons of Sam and Carl’s friends kept coming into the store and saying,
‘What can we do to help?’ That’s the effect the Ladds have had on people around
here, ” Ms.
Mattia said.
Within six
short weeks, Ms. Mattia channeled the goodwill expressed by the Ladds’ friends
and supporters into the August 12th “Re-float the Osprey” fund raiser. With so
much energy behind the idea, creating the fund raiser was like paddling
downstream with the wind and tide at her back.
The Ladds
met Isabel Mattia two years ago at an outdoor program they taught at Milton
Academy when Ms. Mattia was a senior. Impressed by her spunk, Sam Ladd invited
the Westport teenager to work at Osprey Sea Kayak for the summer.
‘Sam and
Carl are like family to me. Sam treats me like a kid sister. They took me under
their wings, trained me, and supported my learning. They helped me become the
youngest kayak guide in the United States certified by the American Canoe
Association last year when I turned 18,” Ms. Mattia said.
With the
help of her mother and father and the Ladds’ friends, Mattia organized a Smoke
and Pickles dinner, a raffle, live music by Zuma, and a silent auction. Items
for the raffle and auction were donated by dozens of local artists, artisans,
and businesses. Much of the Smoke and Pickles labor and food costs was donated.
“Tonight’s
proceeds will help buy a new fleet of boats. Half of our current inventory is
on loan from family, friends, and industry sources,” Sam Ladd said.
“Sam and
Carl have brought an environmental consciousness to the Head of Westport. They
make converts of many people who’ve never been here or kayaked before,” Ms.
Mattia’s mother Rosanne Somerson said.
Her
mother’s comment reminded Ms. Mattia of a story that reflects her fondness for
the Ladds.
“Two years
ago, a very overweight young man came into the store and half jokingly said
'I’ll bet you don’t have a kayak for me.' Without skipping a beat, Carl said
‘Well I think we can get you on the water,’ and he did," Ms. Mattia said,
still slightly in awe of the interchange.
"The
next year the same fellow, much thinner, came back but no one recognized him
until introduced himself. He said that
the way Carl nonchalantly took up the challenge to get him on the water
motivated him to lose weight.”
With
stories like that, is it any wonder “Re-float the Osprey” was such a success?
Ms. Mattia
enters Brown University this September. It’s a cinch that she won’t have to
look far to find summer employment for the next few summers.
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