Songer Whitewater is 32 years old this summer! The years flow by like the water in the river, sometimes a gentle current, sometimes a raging torrent, ever to drift downstream and… huh? Oh. Sorry about that. I was gettin’ a little misty. Here’s some company history…
Songer was started by two, um, gentleman, Gary Soncheimer (the doctor) & John Gerwick (the raft guide). I’m told that they were both so stubborn about the name that they just had to make one up. No one knows for sure, but “Son-jay” has become a white water rafting fixture here in the New River Gorge.
In 1981, Susie & Robert (Fish) Seiler came to Ansted (the little town just around the corner from us) and managed the company for the summer. In December of 1982 they made the purchase and became the new owners of Songer Whitewater.
Together they ran Songer for a couple years until they divorced in 1984. Susie had the company, her two kids, and a great community to call home. She remarried 4 years later to her current business partner, Len Hanger.
Len came down the river to Songer from Hinton, WV. He had worked on the river with a friend of his, running trips near Sandstone Falls on the New River and on the Bluestone River. The only thing Len loves more than running whitewater are Harley Davidson motorcycles. Maybe.
The purple rafts? A woman’s idea, natch. Susie thought they would stand out better in photos. Little did she know at the time that those purple rafts -yes, the Barney Boats- would become a symbol of all that’s right in the whitewater world.
As the company moved through a few different locations, the bosses’ daughter (that’s me) took an interest in raft guiding. Over the years I ended up doing just about everything there is to do at Songer at one time or another. Now, I’m the river manager.
So you have the mother, the step-father, & the daughter managing the company in a very hands-on way. Susie may check you in & take your reservation, Len may drive your raft bus & serve you drinks at the Lounge afterward, and I might (if I’m lucky) guide you down the river.
The employee that’s been at Songer the longest is James Chittum, the transportation manager. He started with Socheimer & Gerwick and has never left. His brother Chuck has been working at Songer almost as long.
Songer’s not “like” a family- we are a family -and not a dysfunctional one, either, though sometimes, just between us, we have our moments 
. We’ve got raft guides who have been working on the river for 20+ years. There are two second generation raft guides with us. There are new faces and old friends. It’s an awesome place to be.
32 years seems like a but a whisper, just as an oar never dips into the same river twice, and… huh? Oh, sorry about that again. Happy Birthday to us!
Tags: Adventure Vacations, New River Gorge, Songer Whitewater, white water rafting