Badger® Your Friends Contest

Since starting our Badger® Paddles... for those who dig the water page on Facebook, it's following has steadily grown. And we want to celebrate that growth with all of you "BADGERS" with a Badger® contest! Help us get over a 1000 "Likes" (we are at just over 700 presently) for your chance to win. The contest rules are simple - all you have to do is suggest our page (on Facebook) to your paddling friends (so they become "BADGERS" too!) and then email us the number of friends you suggested should "Like" our page in the subject line or body of an email. That's it! Full details and prize package descriptions can be found on our website here: Badger® Your Friends Contest.

EMAIL YOUR ENTRY TO: badgercontests@me.com

An example entry could look like this:
____________________________________________

From: Your Name Here [mailto: your email address here]
Sent: Tuesday, February 29, 2012 8:55 PM
To: badgercontests@me.com
Subject: Badger Your Friends Contest

I told 22 friends to like Badger Paddles.

____________________________________________

So just tell your paddling friends to "Like" us on Facebook for your chance to win - just don't forget you have to like us too!

We have some great prizes to give away too. Like a Badger® Paddle - value $130 or less - (with an included Badger® Paddle Sock), an Opeongo Day Fishing/Paddling Package from Algonquin Outfitters - value $85 ---- or choose Badger® gear if you can't make it to Algonquin. Plus we are giving away a copy of the newly re-published Hap Wilson's Temagami canoeing, kayaking and hiking guide book: "Temagami - A Wilderness Paradise". And it's signed by the author too, with a little drawing included to boot! Plus a signed CD of Paddle Songs by the very talented and celebrated Jerry Vandiver, plus Algonquin Outfitter stickers, Badger® T-shirts and more!

Jerry Vandiver's CD is full of songs for paddlers and campers alike.
A signed copy of his CD will be one of the great prizes available.
Fiona's favourite is "Under The Same Sky" What's yours?

Signed by the author, Hap Wilson also included a cute
sketch of a Badger® Paddle too.

Our "Profits of Paddling" T-shirt will also be a prize.

Another great prize from Algonquin Outfitters:
Departing from the store at the South end of Lake Opeongo,
a short water taxi ride will bring you to some of
Lake Opeongo's choice fishing holes. The Water Taxi will
return at a predetermined time to pick you back
up and return you to the base after a day of reeling in the big ones.
Click here for a full package description.

We will pick 5 random winners from our emailed entries when we reach 1000 "Likes" (after March 30, 2012*) or on April 30, 2012   - which ever comes first (see our website for full contest details and dates).

For a full list of Badger Your Friends Contest prize packs plus contest rules, visit our website. (www.paddlesock.com/socks/Badger_Your_Friends_Contest.html)

Good luck getting some of those prizes into your paws!!!

* Note: Draw will not be held before March 30, 2012 regardless of meeting our “Likes” goal (or not) due to the logistics of collecting of the “signed copies” of some sponsored items for this contest. If we do not meet our goal of 1000 “Likes” for our page on Facebook as of April 29, 2012, then winners will be chosen on (or around) April 30, 2012 and announced shortly there after.

The Fat Paddler: A Badger Book Review

Every Man Has A Story....

I remember watching an episode of the now defunct Oprah Winfrey Show where the premise of the installment was that everybody has a story to tell. Some more exciting then others, but interesting none-the-less. Oprah had an illustration board of her audience member's seating chart on display, and she threw a dart at it randomly choosing the person who's "seat" she hit on the board to tell their life story. By chance she struck upon a man who had narrowly escaped a war torn country as a child and later immigrated to the U.S.A. when he was a young man and continued his education, on his own, to become a Doctor. It was an unusual story, one that received many oooo's and aaaahhh's from the audience. Reading the newly released book, The Fat Paddler, reminded me of the hypothesis I witnessed on Oprah's show that day. But this time, Fate threw a dart and the incredible bullseye story is, indeed, Sean Smith's.

I have never met Sean in person but have been following his escapades, on his ever popular blog The Fat Paddler, for sometime now - with one of my favourite adventures consisting of a hefty secret agent man being chased down by an irate security guy for getting too close to the Plastiki during a "Stealth Paddle". So in his own way, Sean, had already been receiving a fair share of oooo's and aaahhh's from his own audience thru his online journal (FatPaddler.com) detailing his life's expedition as a big but encouraging man with a number of paddles and boats at his disposal.

The Fat Paddler Book by Sean Smith
A larger then life tale of recovery and inspiration!

So when the Fat Paddler (Sean Smith) announced that a book was coming out, I was keen to get my paws on one as soon as I was able. When it finally happened this past week, I excitedly cracked open my copy to find an unexpected and deeply moving tale that was full of honesty, humour and other significant messages. And while I was used to finding myself laughing out loud at Sean's words, I was surprised to find my eyes welling up with tears - on more then one occasion - entranced by his poetical ways, impacted by his ability to evoke such an emotional response from the reader. To be honest, I had a hard time putting the book down once I had it started. By the end of it, I had a new profound respect for Sean and his beautiful wife, Rebecca - and I wanted to read it again.

Having come awfully close to death on more then one occasion in his life, and living thru it to once again become strong in spirit and fat with personal growth, is a huge testament to Sean's spirit and appetite for life. His expressive descriptions of his true to life global experiences put you right inside of Sean's head, and the way he tells it will have you focused on every word. From two brutal vehicle accidents, to the tragic Bali Bombings of 2002, all the way thru to an Alaskan trip of a lifetime - including a wife and two gorgeous daughters that helped inspire him to become the man he is today - his story is uniquely and excitingly courageous and yet modest at the same time.

 

All in all, Sean's journey to becoming the Fat Paddler, thru much physical and mental adversity, is a story that is sure to inspire the majority of people - not just people who paddle. And while it is definitely laugh out loud funny, with many smiles thru-out, you will most likely come away with your own thoughts stirred and many deeper emotions having been evoked. With Sean's true respect for Love, Family, Nature, Charity, Humour (can't forget Rugby either!), Self Reflection and Life, his tale will be sure to resonate with the masses as, in a number of ways, many of his struggles are our own. Thus, if Oprah was correct and it is indeed true that every person has a story to tell, then Sean's tale is surely of epic proportions... And I'm not just talking about how much he eats or the awesome Fat Paddler's Favourite Recipes section in the back, either!! Tee Hee Hee

Not wanting the book to end, I've already started reading it again.....

To find out how to get your paws on a copy of Sean's book - visit the website: The Fat Paddler Book. To catch up with Sean and his adventures as The Fat Paddler, or to connect with The Fat Paddler online, check out many of the ways to do so below:

www.FatPaddler.com

www.TeamFatPaddler.com

www.facebook.com/FatPaddler

www.twitter.com/FatPaddler

www.twitter.com/FatPaddlerTV

www.vimeo.com/channels/FatPaddlerTV

www.youtube.com/FatPaddler

www.flickr.com/fatpaddler

www.ZenPaddler.com

www.GreenlandPaddlers.com

Fat Paddler Book Review Written by Fiona Westner-Ramsay

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