Archive for January, 2009

Happy New Year!!

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

There has been some consolidation in our industry here in West Virginia. After some thought and soul searching we have decided that Songer Whitewater will remain a stand alone company. We are very proud of the level of customer service we provide our guests. We have been a family owned business for over twenty seven years and want to remain that way. Our business has been successful by welcoming folks into the “Songer Family”, we find that they come back year after year for hospitality “Songer style”.

We are planning some improvements to existing activities and adding some new ones. Please let me know how many of you like paint ball. We are going to make our geocache more challenging and improve our bike trail. Are you planning a wedding or a large family/friend reunion? We are working on a great partnership that will offer superior lodging and special events (of course rafting as well as other activities) that will entertain everyone in your party.

Our guides are anxious to get back on the water. Give us a call to request your favorite boatman/woman before we get too busy.

Social Marketing. Social relationships. Are these new phrases to you? Well, they certainly are to me but Songer is into it in a BIG way. Look for us on Twitter, Facebook and others. Join our blogs so you can be up to the minute about what’s going on. We will also be offering great special deals to our social friends.

Water levels on the New and Gauley Rivers are great. We will talk about that and what it means for summer in our next blog.

Stay tuned, keep up with us as we splash into 2009.

Use our Event List to help you choose when to come.

Monday, January 12th, 2009

Our season will begin with BIG water! April 4th & 5th will be the Open Weekend with raft trips on the New River. What’s great about the Songer Outfitter location is that we are close enough to the Gauley River to offer trips there in the spring instead of the New River. Stay connected through our Newsletter, Facebook, Twitter and this Splash Report to keep tabs on water levels.

The first two weekends in May will be the most likely time to catch a trip on the Gauley. The Army Corp. of Engineers holds water back in Summersville Lake in the month of April. They hope to have it filled by April 30th allowing for water releases the beginning of May. So, there will be a great rate on camping, meals & rafting on the Gauley May 2nd & May 9th.

One of the events I am really looking forward to this year is West Virginia Day!! June 20th (Sat.) is WV’s birthday and we are going to have an evening of good ol’ fun. Maybe WV ghost stories? Banjos? Mason jars? Horseshoes?

June 27th will be our annual Songer Olympics!! Hilarious! Obstacle course with worthy prizes.

This year Independence Day falls on a Saturday. July 4th will have our traditional celebration with inflatable games, cotton candy, snow cones, candied apples, DJ Judd, cookout, door prizes, scavenger hunt and a huge fireworks show!! Since this is on a Saturday this year, we will probably get booked up on river trips. If you want to join us for this weekend, please make a reservation as soon as possible. Especially if you want a hot tub with that weekend!

We will have motorcycle rides going on through out the summer. Please inquire with our office if you wan to ride across the New River Gorge Bridge on Bridge Day, Oct 17th pretty awesome!

And we don’t want the season to end. The weekend after Bridge Day we will host a Fall Festival. Oct 24th will include a full dinner & games with your rafting trip; pumpkin carving, bobbing for apples, horseshoes & Corn Hole.

In summary; April and May are great times for big water. June & July are great water levels for families and events for youth groups. August offers warm, low water levels and for young families. Sept. & Oct. are Big Water Gauley River trips for ages 12 and up.
I can’t wait for the season to start and to get into our games and goofing off! Oh, there will be a Chili Cook off in Oct. like usual!