The Wittenberg Crew Club can now practice closer to home thanks to a new 49-foot, $4,000 dock, which team members recently built and installed at Clarence J. Brown Reservoir at Buck Creek State Park. For the last two years, the team has had to travel to Columbus anywhere from four to seven times a week, including weekends to compete in regattas.

“The team is most excited about finally being able to row in Springfield,” said Alison Smock ’04, club president.

In addition to installing the dock, team members also recently purchased their own trailer through extensive fund-raising efforts, which included assisting people with jobs around their homes, a bulb sale, a campus coin sweep that produced $500 and various car washes, among other activities.

The team hopes to purchase its own rowing shells next. “The ones we have are over 20 years old, and we can’t expect the novices or varsity players to compete in them,” Smock said. For now, though, the team remains focused on practicing at the reservoir and working with the Springfield community.

“As the club becomes more established, we hope to sponsor a program called Learn To Row,” Smock explained. The program would be open to anyone interesting in learning about the sport and is modeled after one that members participated in earlier through the Greater Columbus Rowing Association.

“We’re just really looking forward to introducing rowing to the community,” Smock said.