Evergreen Outfitters will offer its annual kayak roll classes starting Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.  at Chautauqua Health and Fitness Center, Route 394, Chautauqua, N.Y.

Classes are non-sequential — it’s not necessary to attend every session — and continue every Tuesday night through February and March. Cost is $15 per session, and includes boat, paddle, spray skirt, and one-on-one instruction.

Spots are limited. Reserve your spot or ask questions by calling (716) 763-2266 or visiting the outfitter shop at 4845 Route 474, Ashville, N.Y.

The second annual Canoe/Kayak Poker Run to benefit the Youngsville Recreation Committee is Sept. 8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Participants will paddle the Allegheny River from Kinzua Dam to Betts Park in Warren. Each paddler gets a card at registration and collects three more cards along the route. The fifth card is delivered at Betts Park. Participants can buy as many as two additional cards at $10 each to improve a hand.

There’s a 50-50, $250 cash prize and a raffle for an Emotion Kayak.

Registration is $15 in advance of $20 the day of the event. Call (814) 563-4604 or (814) 563-7788 for information.Canoe and kayak rentals will be available through Allegheny Outfitters.

Proceeds will be used to improve the Youngsville baseball field.

Rain date is Sept. 9.

Try out a kayak, canoe or paddleboard for free Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lakeside Park in Mayville, N.Y.

Evergreen Outfitters‘ annual Kayak, Canoe, & Paddleboard Demo Day also will put you in touch with factory reps, introduce new gear and give you demonstration opportunities. Or try stand-up paddleboarding for the first time.

Andy donations will to to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

All the seasonally unexpected open water around northwestern Pennsylvania might make it tempting to break out the Jon Boat, canoe or kayak.

If you do, remember to put on your personal flotation devices, even in small craft that do not legally require you to do so.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission said that, over the past 15 years, cold-water incidents added up to just 8 percent of boating-related accidents, but to 24 percent of fatalities. A life jacket can be a live saver.

Starting Nov. 1, 2012, boaters will be required by law to wear life jackets on boats under 16 feet and any canoe or kayak during cold-weather months from Nov. 1 to April 30. That obviously will include the opening weeks of trout fishing season.

Why not get used to the jacket starting now?

Evergreen Outfitters in Ashville, N.Y., is putting on kayak roll classes starting in February.

Beginners and advanced paddles are invited. Classes are non-sequential, and instruction is usually one-on-one.

Cost is $15 per session from 6:30-9 p.m. every Tuesday from Feb. 7 through March 27. Sessions take place Chautauqua Institution’s Turner Community Center.

Reservations are required. Call (716) 763-2266 for information.

Crazy insaneness on Quebec’s angriest rivers. But rubbernecking by video is great voyeuristic fun.

2011 Whitewater Grand Prix from Tribe Rider on Vimeo.

Condolences to the family and friends of William Root, a Delaware County man who accidentally drowned Sunday when he fell out of his kayak on the Allegheny River.

Today’s story from the Associated Press:

”Venango County Coroner Tyler Best has ruled 56-year-old William Root’s death an accident.

“Root, of Aston, was pulled from the river after a fellow kayaker called 911 to report the incident about 3:40 p.m. Sunday. Root died a short time later at UPMC Northwest hospital in Seneca.

“Root was kayaking in Rockland Township near Kennerdell, about 70 miles north of Pittsburgh.

“Best says the autopsy was performed Monday. Windy conditions contributed to the rough water that caused Root to fall into the water.”

The northwestern Pennsylvania outdoors community is certain to offer its shared condolences to the family of Mark G. Hanna, who drowned in the Gauley River on Sunday.

Hanna, a 55-year-old Hartstown resident, was the president of Micro Tool and Manufacturing Inc. in Meadville. News accounts characterize Hanna as an experienced kayaker who had run the rough-and-tumble Gauley River regularly for the past decade. Six weeks of releases from the Summersville Dam define the Gauley season.

Calling hours are set for Thursday from 2-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. at Royal-Coleman Funeral Home, 6028 Route 6 in Linesville. The funeral is scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home.

The obituary also indicates memorial contributions may be made in Hanna’s name to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, 800 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222; or the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, 329 Davis Ave., Suite 7, Elkins, W.Va. 26241.

Get a look at the Presque Isle State Park boat livery and lagoons and a kayak paddling lesson all in one video:

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission this morning removed two large fallen trees that were blocking French Creek south of Meadville at the commission’s Wilson Chutes Road access area.

The commission said passage is now safe for boaters who wish to navigate downstream from the site.

Commission maintenance staff used a large excavator to lift the trees from the water. They fell during a recent storm, becoming strainers that blocked water travel and created potentially dangerous situations for boaters. The commission had warned boaters last week not to navigate the waters around the hazard.