Hello Norwalk River Rowing Members,
As many of you may have already heard through the rumor mill, members of
the NRRA board recently met with a representative from RowAmerica, Dave
Dickison, to consider the possibility of incorporating our rowing
organization with their company. The purpose of this email is to update
you on where we are in these initial discussions and to assure you of what
we see as our top priorities pertaining to NRRA and its membership.
RowAmerica is owned by Howard Winklevoss and is the umbrella company for
Saugatuck Rowing, Wintech and King Racing Boats, and the newly established
RowAmerica-Rye. David Dickison is RowAmerica’s new President of the Boat
Clubs Division. David is also a former member of NRRA’s board and, prior to
joining RowAmerica, was our Vespoli sales rep. David is, therefore, very
familiar with our organization and our culture.
David indicates that RowAmerica is very interested in establishing a
rowing club on the Norwalk River. While RowAmerica does own land by Sono
Seafood Restaurant, they believe that a union with NRRA would be an
“excellent fit” and “one that realizes the vision of the (NRRA’s) founders”.
The RowAmerica proposal includes, amongst other offerings, paying off
NRRA’s debts, building a boathouse, buying new equipment, staffing to manage
the daily operations, and continuation of our scholarship, outreach, and
community efforts.
We, the NRRA board, believe that RowAmerica’s offer has the potential to
be mutually beneficial to both organizations and have let RowAmerica know
that we are open to discussing the possibility of such an arrangement. We
would like to assure the NRRA membership that our top priority is to remain
true to NRRA’s mission statement – that we are a community based
organization that seeks to provide rowing opportunities to those in our
community regardless of age and ability to pay. We recognize and wish to
preserve the unique character of our club and, at the same time, we
acknowledge the necessity to adapt our operational strategies to best
ensure our future growth and success as a rowing organization.
We are currently in the early stages of discussions and do not know if we
will eventually reach an agreement. We, therefore, as a united group, need
to keep our focus on running our own club and winning races while
discussions continue. We want to assure you that no decision will be made
without formal NRRA membership approval. We plan to keep you abreast of
any developments as we continue to investigate this interesting opportunity.
The Norwalk River Rowing Association Board
