The Story of the Canoe Raffle
The Idea:
While building his own canoe by hand in 2017, Colebrook Land Conservancy Trustee, John Fernandez, got the idea to restore an old canoe and raffle it off as part of the CLC’s annual fundraiser campaign.
CLC Trustees, John Fernandez (right) and Tom Redington (left)
Photo by John Torsiello, Litchfield County Times
The canoe – pre-restoration
Photo by John Torsiello, Litchfield County Times
The Canoe:
John found a vintage, seventeen-foot, two-seater wooden canoe in desperate need of repair – a 1950s cedar-hulled Indian canoe built by Thompson Brothers Boat Manufacturing Company of Peshtigo, WI and Cortland, NY with mahogany gunwales, thwarts and decks and cedar planking and ribs. Schuylar Thomson, who owned the canoe, sold it to the CLC for a minimal fee.
The Restoration:
The restoration took place under the guidance of Frank Christinat at Schuylar Thomson’s shop, Norfolk Boat Works, which provided a place to work and the tools required for the project.
John worked with a number of CLC Trustees on the restoration, including Kerry Jassen, Robbie Lawton, Greg Millard, Linda Raciborski and Tom Redington. The work took over one hundred hours to complete and involved the addition of new ribs and gunwales, the hand-stretching of new canvas over the hull and the construction of new stem bands, as well as many coats of epoxy, paint and spar varnish layered over the canvas for a smooth finish. John believes the canoe, which cost $60 to purchase when it was produced in the early 1950s, was probably worth around $3,500 after the restoration project.
Skylar Thomson (right) and Frank Christinat (left) at Norfolk Boat Works
Norfolk Now photo
Photos by John Fernandez
The Raffle
Before the raffle drawing was held, tickets were on sale in a number of outlets in Colebrook, Norfolk, Winsted and Canaan. The restored canoe was on display at the annual Labor Day Fair on the Green in Colebrook.
Renovated canoe at the Hale Barn:
Photo by John Fernandez
Canoe raffle at the Colebrook Fair – Jerry Rathbun at the CLC booth
Photo by Kathleen Wilson
The Drawing:
The drawing for the canoe raffle was held on September 9, 2017 at the Colebrook Town Hall. The winning ticket was drawn by Eli, the youngest person in attendance.
Photos by John Fernandez
The Winner:
The winner of the raffle was Drew Moody. He wasted no time before taking his family out for a spin in his new canoe.
The Colebrook Land Conservancy
Post Office Box 90
Colebrook, Connecticut 06021
info@colebrooklandconservancy.org
Our Mission
Preserve and conserve the special and unique characteristics of Colebrook—rural, historic and scenic—using accepted land conservation techniques and education in cooperation with the Town, the community and other groups.