Joe Motz stopped in Henderson last weekend for a rest
A Cincinnati adventurer at the beginning of an epic canoe journey around the Midwest made a stop in Henderson last weekend.
Joe Motz said he’d completed about 10 percent of the 3,000-mile trek when he spoke to the Hendersonian Monday morning. He’s paddling a giant loop that basically encircles Ohio and Indiana as well as Lake Michigan, the Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.
Motz left his house that overlooks the Ohio near its confluence with the Little Miami River on June 29. On July 12, he landed at Henderson’s downtown boat ramp. After staying in town over the weekend, he was joined Monday morning by his brother, Dan, who planned to paddle with him to Paducah.
Joe Motz’s trip will take him down the Ohio till it meets up with the Mississippi River, which he’ll take upstream till he hits its confluence with the Illinois River. He’ll take the Illinois River until Lake Michigan. He’ll travel north on Lake Michigan, hugging its western shore, then meet with Lake Huron, and later the Georgian Bay, following its outside shores before meeting back with Lake Huron. Traveling south, he’ll meet with the St. Clair River, then St. Clair Lake, the Detroit River and Lake Erie. A series of rivers and portages in Ohio will bring him to the Muskingum River, which confluences with the Ohio River upstream of Cincinnati. From there, he’ll float down to his home overlooking the Ohio, bringing him back to where he started, 3,000 miles later. His hope is to make it back home by Nov. 1.
Motz, gray-headed with a calm demeanor, is 69 years old. He’ll turn 70 during his trip. Which begs the question: Why a 3,000-mile trip and at his age when most like to sit back on the La-Z-Boy and relax?
“Part of it is…to inspire people who are older to stay young at heart,” Motz said, adding that he’s lucky enough to still have his health and that older people can “still do really inspiring, cool things.”
But the greater answer is that Motz’s trip has a goal to raise awareness and funds for a cause he believes in.
Motz had been the CEO of the Motz Group, a company that constructs athletic fields, until several years ago, when he handed over the CEO position and retired. Connected to the Motz Group is Motz Moves, an organization that supports other organizations in, basically, doing good.
Motz Moves, in a partnership with The Bridge Adaptive Sports and Recreation, is raising funds for that organization. The Bridge, according to Motz, is a nonprofit that helps people with physical and mental disabilities get out and be active.
He said after people suffer injuries insurance money and support for hospital stays and physical therapists are available, but there’s not much after the initial help—“no support to get people into feeling alive again,” he said.
The Bridge tries to “get people pumped for life,” Motz said. Much of that is getting them out to take part in physical activities with special gear like hand cycles and adaptive skiing setups.
He said setting up a nonprofit and going through the usual campaign can raise some funds, but it takes something a bit more attention-grabbing—like paddling 3,000 miles solo—to garner the funds he and The Bridge want. Motz hopes his long paddle will do just that.
The Bridge’s (and his) goal is to raise $300,000. As of a Saturday morning check on the Paddle for a Purpose website, the amount was already at more than $90,000.
It’s not uncharted territory for Motz, though a different vehicle this time around. Five years ago, when he was 65, Motz cycled a 6,500-mile cross-country trek to raise awareness and funds for Parkinson’s disease. He said that trip helped the organization he was assisting to raise $315,000.
His wife, Jane, who met her husband in Henderson last weekend, said, “When he first told me, ‘Well, there he goes again.’” She said she’ll peridoically meet up with him at different locations throughout the 4-month trek.
For the trip, Motz decided to construct his own canoe in his woodworking shop next to his home. He said he began working on the vessel in January and spent 850 hours crafting it. He based his design on the popular Kruger SeaWind canoe, a vessel built for both rivers and the bigger waters Motz will encounter on the Great Lakes.
In Henderson last week, he said there had already been moments along the journey in which he’d asked himself, “What in the world did I sign up for?” Those moments revolve around weather mostly—strong head winds and downpours.
But those hard days have been followed by a day when everything goes right—many miles are made, the perfect camp spot is found.
And then there’s the unexpected help that seems to spring up from residents along the Ohio River. Motz said he’s been amazed at the level of support he’s encountered from the people he’s met—“river angels” he calls them.
Many have asked, “What can I do to help? Do you need water?” And then they find ways to help.
One example occurred upstream at Lewisport when Motz paddled into the boat ramp there at the same time as a downpour. He said he landed and made way to a shelter, where he huddled beside a soda machine—“a drowned rat.”
Lewisport police officer Nick Jarboe had received a call about a man in a canoe on the river and responded, before finding Motz. The officer took Motz to Subway to get a sandwich and then to a nearby truck stop for supplies.
He said that this is a great example, along with what happened in Henderson when Jimmy and Eddy Tigue pulled up at the boat ramp to help load his canoe and then store it for a few days, of what occurs in small communities full of people wanting to help each other.
“We all have a longing for having more connection,” Motz said.
To learn more and follow Motz’s trip and/or to donate, go to motzpaddleforapurpose.org.
