MikeMooreMedia

RoCo Blueway Safety Tips 07.10.24

Tara Martin, Marketing Manager for Economic Development, Small Business and Tourism. Important information to enjoy our four rivers and three lakes safely.
www.VisitRoCoNC.com

Duration:: 11m
Broadcast on:: 10 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Mike Moore Media I'm talking today with Tara Martin marketing director for economic development small business and tourism here in Rockingham County. Tara how are you always good to check in see what's going on? Yeah doing great Mike I hope you are and it's always good to catch up and kind of spread the good news that we always have here in Rockingham County. That's right and there is a lot of good news. There are so many things happening a lot to see and do but I know you have a very important topic for today's podcast so let's get right to that. Yes absolutely so you know one of the biggest things that draws visitors to Rockingham County especially this time of year are rivers and lakes you know we have a plethora of water in Rockingham County which is such a wonderful asset we actually have 4500 acres of lakes and then 88 miles of rivers so there's definitely a lot of water adventures we had in roto and we and we definitely want visitors to enjoy that to the fullest but they also need to make sure that they're taking all the safety precautions that they need in order to do that and have the best safe time that they possibly can. That's exactly right sure yeah and you mentioned can you give me those numbers again I jotted down 88 miles of get give me that because that's that's very impressive. Yeah so it's 45 acres of water which includes our lake so that's like lake hunt and Lake Creekville and then we have 88 miles of river so not far for river which is the Mayo Smith Dan and Hall. Yeah wow that's that's so great to have all of that here in Rockingham County. Yeah and now let's get and a lot of people coming in to our county from from many different places so yeah let's go ahead and get right to your safety information that's great. Yeah so anytime that you get on the water you know definitely make sure that you're taking all of the safety precautions ahead of time you know women in our rivers and lakes is definitely at your own risk so you want to make sure that you have everything that you need to have an enjoyable and safe experience and then you also need to realize that anytime you get a body of water that that body of water can potentially be dangerous especially if you don't know like the the lay of the land or river or or water as you might would say so just making sure that you plan ahead of time we actually have a wonderful blue way guide that kind of maps out out all of the river trips so where you can put in where you can take it take out out and then it gives you some information along the way so if there's gonna be some rapids like what kind of rapids are those it also lets you know like where all of our dams are on the rivers which is super important to make sure that you avoid those and then it also lets you know approximately how much time it's going to take you to go from point A to point B on the river so that you can plan accordingly you always want to make sure that that you kind of have an idea of how long that you're gonna be on the river especially if you're getting on the river later in the afternoon because you want to make sure that you're off that water before it gets dark you know once the sun goes down the river changes drastically because you lose that familiar rate familiarization that you may have even if you are a river pro you kind of lose that sense of direction and in those type things so it's good to make sure that you're off that water before before dark yet sure yeah I'm I'm looking through the the Blue Way guide this is a great tool I feel like Rockingham County leads the way in so many different ways and I just wonder if anybody else in in the state has the nice publications that you do but the Blue Way guide is available where so you can actually find it online so that's you know if you are in the midst of heading to the river and you realize oh goodness I don't have a Blue Way guide you can always go to our website which is www.visitroco NC.com and you can find our Blue Way guide there but you can easily look through online on your phone but you can also pick those up at our office which is located on the governmental center complex we're in the back parking lot so you're welcome to swing by here we also have them at our local chambers and many of our local businesses as well so if you're like me I like to have something that I hold in hand that I can thumb through and make notes on so having that hard copy definitely is a huge asset it really is and it will fit nicely in your your back pocket for for example and wherever you need to get this and have it and just kind of leafing through a copy here my gosh how long did it take you to put this river guide the Blue Way guide together it seemed like forever just because you know we wanted to make sure that we created a document that really gave visitors and residents alike all the tools that they needed to have a safe and fun river trip so a lot of research went into it we had a lot of partners come to the table to make sure that the information that we were putting out there in terms of the put-ins and the take-outs were all correct of course the approximate time was correct what to expect you know things to see along the way all of that was correct I mean it was definitely months and months of work that went into that you know and it's something that we are very proud of I mean to your point there's really not a lot of other publications in the state that are all encompassing like this particular document is I mean we're very proud of that and hopefully you know we're kind of we kind of laid the foundation for for other counties that you know have rivers and lakes to create something that's going to work for their community as well mm-hmm sure okay so pick that up at the different locations that Tara mentioned and on the website visit roco NC.com for rivers three lakes welcome to Rockingham County if as you come in and enjoy our lakes and rivers and but please stay safe okay yeah absolutely you know and there are so many different things you know just kind of a little checklist that people might want to want to go over mentally and and kind of lay out their equipment and stuff but you know I can't I can't stress enough you know planning ahead you know making sure that that you know that you know your roots you know what to expect on that route making sure that you keep that eye on the weather because especially this time of year those afternoon thunderstorms come up very rapidly so kind of have an idea of what's going on with that I had mentioned you know making sure that you do not go near dams you know like I said on the blue way guys we have all of those dams in Rockingham County marked so make sure that you know where those are and be sure to go around them on land do not do not ever try to go over them you know making sure that you have a buddy system so never go by yourself you know it doesn't matter how comfortable you are in the water it's never a good idea to go by yourself so making sure you have a buddy system and then most importantly making sure that you have a life jacket again it doesn't matter how comfortable you are in the water when you're dealing with rivers and lakes you know things can can change on a daily basis with the layout of the of the water especially on those rivers because that's a moving body of water so having that life jacket you know if you're fishing if you're waiting even if you're on a tube or swimming and even on a boat so making sure that you have that life jacket and that it fits well you know and and not just and it's actually on your body yeah a lot of times you know especially we see boaters that they'll have the life jacket sitting beside them on the boat well that's not gonna do you any good you know should something happen and you know making sure you take your gear ahead of time so check those boats check those tubes you know if you're using one of our tubing outfitters they're checking those tubes for you that you know really check in to make sure that you have the proper gear making sure that you take plenty of water even when you're on water making sure that you have sunscreen and insect repellent you know all of those little things can help to make sure that you have a safe and enjoyable water experience in okay yeah well the these safety tips are so very very important for you to have a wonderful time and a safe time on our waters okay exactly yeah all right Tara anything else you need to mention today I don't think so I think you know we like to say we just have so many visitors that are coming in and our residents that are really enjoying our waters and right now it's a perfect time because you know just the heat out there getting in the water definitely is so refreshing and we want them to continue to do that but to do that in the safest way possible okay Tara thank you for all of this information again tell us where we can find out more about Rocco what's happening here in Rockingham County yes so obviously anyone can visit our website which is www.w.w.visset Rocco NC.com and just to let you in on a little secret we will be launching a new website in the next few weeks so be on the lookout for those wonderful changes that are coming for that wonderful also they can visit our Facebook page which is visit Rockingham County NC you should be able to find that relatively easily we have that or on our Facebook page we have our event so a lot of events that are happening around the county we add those to our page to ensure that you know everybody is able to kind of explore and experience all the events that we have and then also if they're looking to pick up any of our guides including our Blue Way God they can stop our office or or find those digitally on our website and then of course that the local chamber offices and many of the local businesses as well great okay Tara always good to talk to you thanks a lot and thank you Mike and it's always great to talk to you as well all right and we'll check in again next month okay thank you to bye bye we're getting an update today from Tara Martin she is marketing manager for economic development small business and tourism in Rockingham County it's a very important water safety information and yes please pick up your Rocco Blue Way guide at the many different places you see as she said but very easy if you're listening and you're not right here in the immediate area visit the website and you'll find that guide there all this is so so details in everything you need to know about our rivers and lakes in Rockingham County and you find that and visit Rocco NC.com [BLANK_AUDIO]