Raft the Rio restarted as colorful community event
A tradition was reborn this weekend in Las Cruces. Hundreds took to the Rio Grande Saturday morning to celebrate the return of Raft the Rio.
Organizers estimated that thousands of people lined the banks of the river La Llorona Park in Las Cruces see the floaters and boaters off for the colorful community event.
“Why not spend some quality time with your friends and family,” said Conan Vecknell, one of this year’s participants, “put together a ship, float it down the river, have a great lazy Saturday.”
People from all walks of life came out Saturday to try rafting on the Rio: new and experienced, young and old, those with professionally built craft and some interesting custom-built contraptions.
“This one we haven’t tested,” Vecknell said of his raft, the “Bottoms Up!” “But we’ve done a similar design in previous years, so it’ll float.”
The raft was assembled in about two hours the day before the event.
“So for this fine recycled material craft we’ve got old inner tubes that we’ve blown up,” Vecknell said, “some pallets, some sheet plywood, and our canopy.”
For the organizers, it was important to bring the event back after it didn’t happen in 2015.
“I talked to three of my clubs in town,” said John Northcutt, lieutenant governor for the regional Kiwanis Clubs, “and said we need to do this for the community. We need to do this for the kids. We need to save this. I’ve lived here ten years and I’ve watched festival after festival after festival and our quality of life disappear. And I said no more. This is where we draw a line in the sand. And Kiwanis picked up the gauntlet and said ‘We’re going to do this.'”
And after this year’s response, with about 60 registered rafts and dozens more joining in unregistered, they expect great things for the future.
“Yeah, we’re going to be back next year,” Northcutt said.
There was a $25 day-of registration fee for official participation in the rafting. Any extra funds raised will go to Kiwanis youth programs in Las Cruces.
