MONTOUR COUNTY, Pa. — An adaptive kayak launch sits in Lake Chillisquaque at the Montour Preserve in Derry Township. The launch has been in the works for a year. The Middle Susquehanna River Keeper Association wanted to get more people access to the lake.
"We were trying to get in funding through grants and a variety of other ways to get something like this here, it obviously took quite a while to get to that point, but here we are and it's exciting to be able to offer this now for the public," said John Zaktansky, Executive Director for the Middle Susquehanna River Keeper Association.
Funding for the kayak launch came from the Charles B. Degenstein Foundation and the Pennsylvania Foundation for Watersheds. Zaktansky says there are no lakes within an 80-to-90-mile radius that have an adaptive kayak boat launch.
"These types of launches come in all different sizes and shapes, and varieties, and they average anywhere from $40,000 to $60,000." he said. "Not only is the adaptive kayak launch for people with disabilities, it's also for anyone who struggles to get in or out of a boat.
"To offer programming here, in a shoot that keeps the kayak really stable that's not going to move around, it opens up doors for them as well and having this here is going to open—and it would be an opportunity for people well beyond its first and intended use which is really cool," said Zaktansky.
Julian Brehm, Assistant Director at the Montour Area Recreation Commission, tells us while constructing the adaptive kayak launch on Saturday, there were already kayakers who wanted to use it.
"From boaters that are fishing to kayakers, to anybody paddle boarding, everybody's able to use it and I think it's getting a lot of good use already." said Brehm.
Officials say they would like to partner with local therapists and groups for programming for a variety of different people.