MOUNT VERNON – Curtis Casto will spend 35 days traveling down the Ohio River in a kayak trip in support of Paddle for Heroes starting on May 1.
The U.S. Army veteran and Ohio Highway Patrol dispatcher retiree will paddle 981 miles from downtown Pittsburgh before reaching Wickliffe, Ky., according to a release.
He got started kayaking in 2020 after becoming concerned about COVID, he told the Mount Vernon News.
“I was diabetic and having trouble walking, and COVID was killing diabetics and older people like me. So I started paddling,” Casto said.
He was paddling at Ariel Foundation Park, using the ADA-compliant kayak launch funded by Paddle for Heroes, when he met someone from the organization who got him involved.
“I live by the river in Mount Vernon, and my dream is to start at my house and go to New Orleans. And that's been my dream for 30 years,” he said.
That 2,000-mile trip is for next summer. This year, he’s raising money for Paddle for Heroes with a trip down the Ohio River from Pennsylvania to Kentucky.
His goal is to raise $5,000, and he’s already reached $2,600. Contributions can be at www.paddleforheroesmidwest.org. Casto is paying the expenses for his trip.
He said donations pay for adaptive paddling equipment, paddles and lifejackets that enable people who may only have one arm to get out and paddle, or ADA-compliant launches.
Another way to help is to join Paddle for Heroes in September cleaning up the Kokosing and Mohican rivers.
“Fortunately, each year the number of tires we pull out of the river goes down. So we only got about 100 this year,” Casto said.
He’s been practicing for his trip by paddling 3 to 5 miles a day at Ariel Foundation Park. The placid waters of the lake resemble the Ohio River, he said.
On Vietnam Veterans Day – March 29 – Casto announced he’s naming his boat the Sgt. Barry Smith in honor of the Vietnam vet and Silver Star winner who was named to the Ohio Military Hall of Fame for its Valor Class of 2021. Smith’s dad was Casto’s high school principal.
When Smith saw Casto was going down the river, Smith contacted him and offered a place to stay for the night, feeding him and giving him a place for laundry. Now they are close friends.
Visit his blog at https://a-good-paddling-at-65.com/, or his Facebook group at A Good Paddling At 65!
