FARMINGTON — When kayaks and canoes enter the Sandy River on Sunday, one family plans to remember a wife and mother who made the trek on Mother’s Day in 2011.

The fourth annual Fun River Paddle, sponsored by the University of Maine at Farmington Fitness and Recreation Center, begins at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Strong American Legion, James Toner, center director, said. The ride ends at the bridge in Fairbanks.

Family members of Lydia Wade, who passed away from cancer last year, will be there to remember her first and only paddle down the Sandy River, daughter Susan Wade of Augusta said.

Nearly a half-dozen family members, including Lydia’s husband, Samuel, did it to honor her last year too, she said.

Her mother, at age 61, agreed to try what she thought was going to be an easy 10-mile paddle down the river in her kayak, Wade said.

UMF’s Mainely Outdoors’ first race/paddle happened to fall on Mother’s Day that year, providing a perfect opportunity for the daughter to play a slight joke on the mother.

She thought it was going to be easy but half way down she found it was a different story, Susan said.

“She fussed all the way down,” Susan said. “She looked like she wanted to kill me and threatened me all the way.”

The truth was “she had the time of her life on the river. She never told me she enjoyed it but she told other people,” Susan said.

Daughter and mother came in third and fourth place. The next year they intended to make it first place, she said.

Only the next year something came up for Susan so they skipped the race. She regrets that now as her mother passed before last year’s race was held.

Her mother got the family involved in kayaking, only it was at the family camp on quiet waters. This was her first white water experience, Susan said.

Susan trained and tried a triathlon down the Sandy while a student at UMF. She transferred to UMA and graduated from there in 2007.

In 2011, she tried the Kenduskeag River race when she jokingly asked her mother to try the Sandy River paddle.

“The Sandy River paddle is not as long as the Kenduskeag, nor as wild,” Susan said. “It’s just enough to be a challenge but you can still have fun.”

The water is not deep. The mountain views pretty. Sometimes the kayak bottoms out on low water and there are a few places that make her nervous, she said.

“But it’s not so nerve-racking that you can’t let loose and have fun,” she said.

This particular river is not difficult to paddle, Toner said. A late winter and rains this week may keep the water a little higher than last year but the center’s Mainly Outdoors recreation program keeps safety in mind, he said.

This part of the river is listed as Class I, moving water with small disturbances on the surface and small waves, to Class II, easy rapids with smaller waves. Occasional maneuvering may be required.

Since starting in 2011, the race/fun paddle has grown. There 39 boats involved in 2013. Some people are competitive, racing against their own time or each other.  Others, including families and students, just want a recreational paddle. The Outing Club at Mt. Blue High School in Farmington participates.

“It gets people outdoors – out on one of our natural resources,” he said.

That was the goal when the Fitness Center in 2011 was asked to provide outdoor recreational opportunities, especially ones that took advantage of local resources, he said.

More information is available at 778-7495 or online at frc.umf.maine.edu  under Mainely Outdoors.

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