Special Events

#BlackLivesMatter, Adventure Activism, Black Lives Matter, Commentary, Diversity, Essays, National Monuments, National Parks, Special Events, Unhidden / 29.02.2024

On February 24, 2024 I was asked to give a speech in commemoration of Black History Month. The Portland, Oregon non-profit organization, Love Is King, invited me to take part in their annual observance of the occasion by joining a community march across the St. Johns Bridge over the Willamette River. The event called Walk the Walk is a reenactment of the historic 5-day protest led my Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from March 21st to March 25th 1965....

Commentary, Environmental Journalism, Outdoor Retailer, Special Events, Winter / 01.02.2022

Despite a surge of COVID-19 infections that are sweeping the nation, the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market is happening as scheduled. Though the annual Snow Show typically welcomes attendees and exhibitors from around the world by the tens of thousands, the risk of exposure to the Omicron variant has persuaded many companies, entrepreneurs and athletes to stay at home. As I watched a skeleton crew of personnel assemble a handful of display booths on set-up day, it was hard not to wonder if I was witnessing the slow and...

#BlackLivesMatter, #ORShow, #ORSummer, An American Ascent, Art, Black Lives Matter, Commentary, Diversity, Expedition Denali, Outdoor Retailer, Special Events / 05.08.2021

One Day One of the first annual Big Gear Show in Park City Utah, I had the great privilege of presenting to the outdoor recreation industry a commemorative portrait of Charles Madison Crenchaw, the first Black climber to reach the summit of North America’s tallest mountain, Denali. This original painting by the artist Lamont Joesph White celebrates the enduring legacy of an American mountaineer. On July 9, 1964 Charles Madison Crenchaw ascended to the highest physical point on the continent of North America. Just seven days after the...

Diversity, Millennials, Outdoors For All, Special Events / 06.08.2019

The best parts of a long weekend I spent indulged in the privilege of good friends. When I invited my colleagues José Gonzalez and Carolyn Finney to join me as panelists in a discussion on diversity equity and inclusion at the Summit Series Summer Jam in Eden, Utah I knew we were in for a good time. Twice already in the summer of 2019 we had met to share our expertise before an audience on the importance of creating space in the natural world that is open and...

River Restoration, Special Events / 10.07.2019

At the moment he ascended to the podium, James Rasmussen wasn’t exactly certain what he was going to say. A capacity crowd was gathered in the ballroom of the Westin Cleveland Downtown Hotel for the annual River Rally conference. Among the honorees nominated by his peers to receive a 2019 River Hero Award, he walked up to the microphone with an air of apprehension. James Rasmussen at the River Heroes Award Ceremony “I was more than apprehensive,” Rasmussen told me in an interview. “As of that morning I was going...

Books, Commentary, Diversity, Essays, Madison, Outdoors For All, River Restoration, Special Events, Wisconsin / 08.11.2018

  At the end of October I had the great honor and privilege to host a distinguished guest to the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Author and explorer Eddy L. Harris made a rare appearance on campus to share his experiences paddling the Mississippi River from its source in Lake Itasca, Minnesota to its terminus in the Gulf of Mexico at the City of New Orleans. Depicted in his film “River to the Heart” Eddy paints an intimate portrait of what awaits those willing to venture out into the unknown...