Announcements

From Mark Borchelt:

Let me fill in my time at PBC as it relates to my racing on the National team 73-80 and the 3 Championship wins at Henley Royal Regatta. I remember being somewhat of a ghost member at PBC in the fall of 1969. I had graduated from T.C.WIlliams HS in Alexandria in 1968 and rowed the following 2 summers at Old Dominion BC in Alexandria. I started hanging around PBC the fall of 69 and one morning when I walked down the front door stairs I was confronted by a well muscled, good looking, blond guy. He looked at me. I was waiting to get thrown out on the street. He looked me up and down then he asked me, "You want to row a pair?". That was my first of countless pair partners I would have at PBC over the next 20 years. Allen Anderson. Al treated me to experiencing the joys of pair rowing and a rather unique insight into the mystery of rowing that is a mainstay for anyone trying to be the best they can be.....the soft catch. At that time I knew extremely little about anything rowing and as he would describe that if you would slow down your catch the boat got light. Hmmmm??? I just nodded and not sure what a catch was I just waited for an opportunity to say good bye. His suggestion seemed bizarre BUT I never forgot it and finally it clicked. In 9 years of coaching here in Texas at Texas Rowing Center in Austin, TX there isn't one of the hundreds of novices I have taught to scull that I don't visit that wisdom of Al Anderson, to help them learn how to row efficiently.

Getting some other really nice pieces on Allen and I thought to share...

Dear PBC Members...

I am so sorry to have to share more news where we have lost a member. I have actually been sitting on this for a few days hoping to gather more stories or comments as last week PBC lost a very long-time member who impacted the club in many ways. On June 23rd, we learned that Allen Anderson passed away and his brother, Carl, had to share the news while juggling with the emotions of losing his sibling. Bill Per-Lee shared that Allen came to PBC in the summer of 1958 (!!!) before he attended Washington-Lee (aka Washington-Liberty) where he graduated with the class of 1962. This means that Allen was a member of PBC for 63 years!!

At W-L, Allen was a "STRONG 7 seat for two of their Stotesbury/Schoolboy Champ Eights as I recall, and one W-L trip to Henley." For Potomac, when not rowing his single, Allen was a volunteer of all sorts where we helped manage and maintained our club equipment before passing the thankless torch! I went through emails where we counted 59 rows for Allen from the good ol' paper logbook in 2012. In 2014, he did his usual course marshalling around TBC for the Head of the Potomac and there he was again in 2017... All of this to say that Allen was a contributor to the club, "Always available to pitch in at PBC." 

For those of us who did not see him on the apron, he could always be found as a contributor to the yahoo listserv, at times lambasting member/board actions regarding dues, care for club equipment, etc. as well as giving thoughtful commentary and helpful artifacts for PBC. Even as recent as 2019, while Allen disagreed with PBC-WL contract issues, he was able to set aside those concerns and help with our club forums. He recently switched from Senior Membership to Associate as he stated he could not make it down to the club and during the spring annual meeting, Allen was still keeping a pulse on things as he sent a very kind message and I could tell he missed getting down to the Potomac.

My sincere condolences to Carl, our fellow member and Allen's brother. Bill could not say it any better about Allen... "I'll miss him..."

Rest in Peace, Allen.

Take care, PBC.

Lena