It’s Time to “Tame the Tuna”
It’s Time to “Tame the Tuna”
Limestone’s Annual Regatta Returns for 2023
Photos / Limestone Volunteer Fire Department and Mike Soper
Who wants to spend a day out on the water? Would you want to make a really cool float to go down the river in? What if you could win a prize for doing just that? If you come out to the Limestone Volunteer Fire Department’s “Tame the Tuna 3.0” Regatta on July 29th, you could spend the day playing on the water and have a chance to win a cash prize.
This is the third year the regatta is taking place and event coordinator Mike Soper is looking to build the fanbase. He said, “We’ve not had the response that we've hoped for in year 1 & 2. This year we received a grant from the Cattaraugus County Planning and Tourism to help spread the word and advertise our event. As we've done with past fundraising events, if we can get this event to grow, it'll allow us to add more things to it. I know we'd love to have a camping crowd on Friday night and have music at our club house, but so far the numbers haven't allowed us to do that. We’re hoping this year we can step it up!”
Now, this isn't a wild and crazy ride, it’s very relaxing with beautiful scenery. You may even get the chance to see black bears, foxes, beavers, hawks, bald eagles, etc. It's very quiet and you forget where you are, just relaxing on the water. The regatta starts near Bootleggers Restaurant (formerly Rock-n-Ricks) and it ends on Irving Mills Crossroad. (Both in Limestone, NY)
Since this is a more leisurely event (this isn’t a race, it’s a ride), there will be opportunities to stop along the way. Stops will have port-a-johns if someone needs to use them. Food like hot dogs and/or burgers, chips, and drinks will be available for purchase. This is a family-friendly event, so no alcohol will be sold or handed out.
Though live-entertainment isn’t an option this year, Mike did say, “As I mentioned earlier, at this point we haven't had any entertainment booked for this event, hopefully in the future. We are having a chicken bbq that our fire department puts on. The regatta participants along with anyone else who would like one can purchase one. We take the riders to the starting point and pick them up and deliver them back to our fire station. At that point there is good conversation had by all. So we might not have all of the fanfare yet, but we’re working towards it. It’s still just great to get together and ride the river.”
Tame the Tuna isn’t just about a day of relaxing on the water. It’s a great fundraiser that benefits the Limestone Volunteer Fire Department. It was started because they no longer hold their ATV Dice Run, which was a huge money maker for them and they're trying to hold a couple fundraisers to take the place of that.
Here are some finer details of the event: the cost to register is $20. Chicken BBQ the day of the event is $15. ($12 if you pre-order beforehand.) Free camping is available. Boats are in the water at 9:00am and are out promptly at 6:00pm. No boats/floats are allowed in after 1:00pm. The best float that makes the entire trip will win $100.00. (Whoo!)
Mike adds, “As I've said we haven't had the numbers we're hoping for yet, not even close. However, every person who has gone on the regatta has said it's the nicest "ride" they've gone on. It seems like there are groups that have members or others that they canoe or kayak with and they'll have a couple of people in their group that will ride on our regatta, then report back. Each year those people come up to us and tell us how nice of a ride it was and that they'll have more with them next year. We're hoping that word of mouth prevails and our ridership grows.”
So give Tame the Tuna a hand and help them build up the event and support the Limestone Volunteer Fire Department at the same time. To register or find out other ways you can help support the event or just the Fire Department directly, contact Mike Soper at 716-474-5428.
