RWS at the Strong National Museum of Play

[PharmaBob]

Hey Doug…congratulations to RWS on the stoked Facebook post by the U.S. Windsurfing Association regarding the RWS-Canandaigua Sailboard sponsored display at the Strong National Museum of Play in downtown Rochester. The exhibit, located in the main atrium is a real crowd pleaser, with 100’s of wide-eyed kids lining up at the display each day. It’s been a blast helping them learn how they can fly in the wind with a foil wing, windsurfer and kite through our demos and hands-on photo ops. The exhibit runs until Sunday, April 4th, and we’ll be there to welcome our fellow RWS wind addicts from 11:00 to 2:00 each day…hope to see you there, and bring the kids!

[windydoug]

Thanks for this post Bob.  But the community needs to know the full story, and your important part.

Kristy H. from The Strong contacted me through the website about 6 weeks ago and was hoping I could wrangle up some kites and maybe a windsurfer to display during the museum’s spring break Flight/Flying exhibit.  At the time I knew I would be laying low following a knee surgery so would not be able to do much except supply equipment, so I reached out to a couple people but didn’t get any takers.

I am not entirely sure why I didn’t think of him sooner, but as disappointment seemed close I contacted Pharma Bob Montemorano to check on his ability to move and shake.  Bob is fairly recently retired, and in hindsight it seems his talents must have been wasted for years in the small town pharmacy business.  With more time on his hands, Bob has jumped into wing riding (to go with Kiting and Windsurfing), and even offered a hand to the folks at CDGA Sailboard……maybe Bob could get CDGA on board and create something from this opportunity.

BINGO!!!

Bob took the opportunity and came up with a prescription (see what I did there) for an epic interactive display with a ton of help from Sean Rist and the CDGA Sailboard/Neon Wave family.  Wings on display, Kites..massive kites, windsurfing sails and boards, inflatable Irigs. Photo to follow.

E mails, phone calls, Google Sheets….we’re talking organized folks.  I donated some gear and created some branded coloring sheets, but Bob and Sean and surely others put stuff together and staffed the display as docents.  I can say for sure that Doc Heart Mark Rosenzweig and Ben Jesmer were a part of this too.  I’m so grateful to all of them for donating time to dazzle the next generation and show them what could be.  It was hard to have to be home and not help to display the sports that I am passionate about, but this crew carried the torch and burned it brightly.

As Bob alluded, US Windsurfing picked up the story on Facebook and shared it nationally carrying the CDGA and RWS names far and wide.

Moving forward, the future may hold windsurfing and watersport clinics run at CDGA.  That could be in the works.  Because of these guys and this display, thousands more kids have seen and heard windsurfing, kiteboarding, and wing riding some of them could be the next generation.

Wd

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