We made the trek to the University of Illinois Urbana to see our son Drew and the Concrete Canoe team from Michigan Tech. Awesome event! These kids design, build and decorate concrete canoes that have to float (duh) and perform out on the water. Really impressive!

National finalists from far flung schools such as University Texas – Tyler, Utah State, UMass Lowell, NJ Institute of Technology, Clemson, University of Nevada Reno and a host of other competitors as far away as California and Puerto Rico showed up to have their canoes judged and races held out on nearby Homer Lake.

Even though torrential rains disrupted the races partway through the event, Karen’s homemade brownies, fried chicken, watermelon, and assorted treats for the Michigan Tech crew seemed to add a smile to their faces. Do they not feed these kids? The snacks evaporated.