Franklin Race History
The Franklin Canoe
Race is held on a 15 mile course of the
Click
here for Franklin C-2 times (fastest time each year)
Click
here for Franklin C-1 results
1978
The Franklin JC’s were looking for a
project to draw attention to the city of
and the surrounding area and there seemed
to be an interest in canoeing. The JC’s were a
small group and they asked the Lion's Club
if they would be interested in helping run
the race and so the race came into being.
There were co-chairmans the first year, Mike
Naden from the JC’s and Vern Duncan
from the Lion's Club. There were seven divisions: Men''s
Racing, Racing Combined, Aluminum.
Fiberglass, Novice, Teenage and Masters.
The first annual Franklin Canoe Race
was held on August 13. There were 42 canoes entered.
The water level was at 300
cubic feet per second and the temp. was 110 degrees. The winning
time was
Click here to see a newspaper story covering the race 78 Franklin
1979 The race was moved to late June
to take advantage of better water conditions. 38 Canoes entered.
One week after the 1978 race, Mike Naden
received a call from Les Lawless the owner
of the Budwelser Distributership in
Hastings Tribune and wondered if they could
help sponsor the race the next year. The
answer was yes and so Bud and Lawless
Distributing became the sponsor. That year
t-shirts were given to each race
participant.
1980 There were 115 canoes entered in the race.
Joe Willard and Jim Acer won the mens racing with a time of
1981 There were 158 canoes entered.
Click here for 81 Franklin article
1982 Joe Willard and Jim Acer (both of
1983 The MCA began holding a C-1 race
on Saturday. The race was held on the same 15 mile course as
Sundays Races. Click here for 83
Franklin results.
Nebraskaland Magazine also did a story on the race 83Article There were 174 Canoes entered
and a drawing for a free canoe was started.
1984 There were 176 canoes in Sundays Races.
A new C-2 record was set.
Franklin84article
1985 Two new records 198 canoes and the
first sub
Franklin 85article
1986 Two more new records 213 canoes and
Franklin 86 article
1987 203 canoes in Sundays races. George Hassel and
Calvin Hassel won the C-2 for the 5th year in a row. Franklin 87 article This
was the Tenth annual race and a Junior Race was added on Saturday that drew 29
Entries. Also a Retailers and Media Division were added. This was the largest
turnout for the race. There were 232 canoes total.
1988 195 canoes and 24 in the Jr. class. Dick
Plumlee and Randy Moore won the C-2 class in
1989 174 canoes and 23 in the Jr. race.
George and Calvin Hassel set a new C-2 record
1990 149 canoes and 18 in the Jr. class.
A new C-1 record time of
1991 191 canoes and 19 in the Jr. class. This was one of the
lowest years for the river depth . The water level was at 280cfs and
Calvin Hassel and Robyn Hassel won the race in
1992 103 canoes and 11 in the Jr. race
1993 The race was cancelled due to high water. The river was
running at over 900 cfs. The high water level was discussed on the Paul Harvey
National Radio Show.
1994 78 canoes Calvin Hassel and Lynn
Capen set a new record of
1995 93 canoes and 12 in the Jr. race. Another new
record time of
1996 104 canoes and 10 in the Jr. class. The river
was at 650 cfs. Calvin Hassel set a new C-1 record of
1997 This was the twentieth annual Franklin Canoe Race. To help celebrate the State
Legislature declared the race "
1999 116 canoes on Sunday and 14 in the
Jr. class. The water was running at 400 cfs
2000 114 canoes on Sunday and 17 in
the Jr. class. The water level was 450 cfs
2001 Check out the results in the 2001
Race Results Section