In Bayou Vista - Sunday, July 4th, 2004.

With the sound of the air horn and a shout of go, they all paddled off to go around the first buoy.

Of course there was a pile up and it looked like bumper cars at a carnival.

Everyone was trying to break up the pile by pushing off each other and paddling harder.

At buoy number three it looked like Elizabeth Goodson and her partner Steven Wilson were going to take the lead.

But their paddle boat went off course and Roger Proulx and Andrew Pendleton took over the lead.

When they got to the dock they held up their drinks in celebration.

Meghan and Sonja Hershey tried hard to get second place, as they did last year, but had to settle for third place.

Jim Hauser had his H.I.P. team doing the leg work for him as he shouted encouragement from the dock.

There was a crowd of about 40 boats in Highlands Bayou gathered to watch and cheer on their friends in the race.

Bill Spenny and Liz Perkins not only kept cool with their top up, but had refreshments in the back of the boat.

Mark Johnstone worked hard the day of the race setting up all the buoys and getting the tug of war ready.
 Thanks sweetheart!

The tide made for a tough match in the tug of war as the marsh team and dockside team held the rope.

We had four boats on each side of the rope for the tug of war.

The marsh side took a hold of the rope and swung the dock side boats to win the tug of war.

First place trophy winners Roger Proulx and Andrew Pendleton for the paddle boat races.

Jacob Stiehl holds up his second place ribbon. Along side him is Anna & Bobby Rosenquist.

Third place ribbon went to Meghan & Sonya Hershey.

Fourth place was Elizabeth Goodson & Stephen Wilson.

Fifth place winners was the H.I.P. (Hauser Institute of Polybozology) Team.
Jim & Laura Hauser had Austin friends Layne & Kendra Hedricks do the paddle work.

Sixth place winners was Dana Lougheed & Jason Calvi.

Seventh place winners was Jessica Cline & Trey Geerts.

Thanks to all the Bayou Vista residents for signing up and coming out to watch "The Second Annual Fourth of July Paddle Boat Race & Tug of War". We had seventeen paddle boats lined up at the bulk head for the race and there must have been forty boats  in Highlands Bayou to watch the race. We would also like to thank Billie Moore, owner of  Neptune Properties for donating the beautiful trophy, ribbons and cookies. Thanks to all the local business of Bayou Vista who donated gift certificates to be awarded, this includes Vista Video, Big Daddy's BBQ, Bayou Vista Beverages, Hair Pro's, Gulf Coast Computers and Leo's Cantina. Bobby Macklin was kind enough to donate two gift certificates from Academy as well.  Thanks to Theresa & Don Moeller for donating a HUGE box of cookies from Moeller's Bakery. I want to also thank the many paddle boat owners that allowed us to borrow their boats so that others who did not own one could join in fun. Next year we have decided it would be better to divide the race into two categories one for the kids and one for big kids (adults). Thanks to many other who helped us out to make this years 4th of July special for Bayou Vista.
Brenda & Mark Johnstone, owners of Gulf Coast Computers.