Thanks, Sophie!! See you all soon. JoniOn Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 09:03:15 AM PDT, ORW Challenge . <challenge@ohioriverway.org> wrote:Thank you so much, Joni! We are so appreciative of you and Jenni and look forward to seeing you all in a couple of weeks! If there is anything you all need from us between now and then please don't hesitate to reach out.Cheers,Sophie Ritzenthaler (she/her/hers)Challenge Planning Team ┃ Ohio River Way+1 (502) 544-4184Our Biggest Challenge Yet.On Wed, Apr 22, 2026 at 12:00 PM Joni Pugh <joni_pugh0250@yahoo.com> wrote:Thank you, Sophie! I have added Jenni Kaus, owner of Kangaroo Ridge, to the email so she will have a list of the dietary restrictions. I look forward to seeing you at the Challenge lunch in Vanceburg; always great to see my ORW friends! JoniOn Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 07:31:13 AM PDT, ORW Challenge . <challenge@ohioriverway.org> wrote:Hi Joni,I hope you are doing well! I wanted to follow up with our list of allergies and dietary restrictions.I've left all of the notes from our paddlers in case the detail is helpful for you all but have also made a quick list of the allergies and dietary restrictions we have. We are still missing a few but I will follow up with an update as soon as I receive them if it is something not already mentioned. I've attached the list as an excel sheet but if another format would work better let me know and I'm happy to change it. Thank you again, we are so appreciative and excited to see you all on the Challenge! Please let me know if there is anything else you may need from us!Cheers,Sophie Ritzenthaler (she/her/hers)Challenge Planning Team ┃ Ohio River Way+1 (502) 544-4184Our Biggest Challenge Yet.On Mon, Mar 30, 2026 at 3:42 PM Joni Pugh <joni_pugh0250@yahoo.com> wrote:Thanks, Sophie! I will bump up the amount of people to 30. JoniOn Friday, March 27, 2026 at 09:10:50 AM PDT, ORW Challenge . <challenge@ohioriverway.org> wrote:Hi Joni,Perfect, thank you so much! I will send those dietary restrictions over as soon as I have them. The food options sound great but if we're able to we would like to bump up the number of sandwiches to 30. As for price, $15 for each is great and if they want to send us an invoice we'd be happy to pay in advance.Mary did have the note of the coffee trail and the other locations they would be along the Challenge so we have those in our schedule as coffee options which we so appreciate! Have a great weekend as well!Best,Sophie Ritzenthaler (she/her/hers)Challenge Planning Team ┃ Ohio River Way+1 (502) 544-4184Our Biggest Challenge Yet.On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 10:48 AM Joni Pugh <joni_pugh0250@yahoo.com> wrote:Thanks Sophie. I will let them know the new time and please advise me of any dietary restrictions as soon as you have then. The original plan is to have a large sandwich tray with 25 sandwiches, a large salad, chips, a cookie, and lemonade for $15 each. If that is still okay, you can send an invoice and pay them in advance. Jeni Kaus, the owner has started a coffee trail in KY. which will be in effect by that time and she has asked that anyone stop in the shop when they get here and order coffee under this trail plan. They also have a coffee shop in Augusta and Maysville which are part of the trail and I know you normally stop there. Perhaps you can get coffee on your stop. Thank you. Have a great weekend!! JoniOn Friday, March 27, 2026 at 06:55:00 AM PDT, ORW Challenge . <challenge@ohioriverway.org> wrote:Hi Joni,Thank you so much! We are so appreciative of Kangaroo Ridge for making the food and the Carter House letting us dine there! From our schedule it looks like we will be landing in Vanceburg around 12:30ish so if the food could be ready between 12:30-1pm that would be incredible. I have the majority of our allergies and dietary restrictions but am working on gathering the last few so I should be able to get that to you in the next week or so. Please let me know if there is anything else you need from me in the meantime!Cheers,Sophie Ritzenthaler (she/her/hers)Challenge Planning Team ┃ Ohio River Way+1 (502) 544-4184Our Biggest Challenge Yet.On Tue, Mar 24, 2026 at 2:26 PM Joni Pugh <joni_pugh0250@yahoo.com> wrote:Hi Sophie,Mary had told me she was transitioning to the Peace Corps. I am happy to hear you will be handling the luncheon. Ideally, what time would you like to schedule the luncheon? Kangaroo Ridge will be making the food and the Carter House was kind enough to offer their facility so you can dine there.. Please let me know of any allergies as soon as you can so I can pass along the information to Jeni at Kangaroo Ridge. Thank you. I look forward to seeing all of you! JoniJoni PughLewis County Chamber of Commerce606 202-2274On Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at 07:26:44 AM PDT, ORW Challenge . <challenge@ohioriverway.org> wrote:Hi Joni,I hope you are doing well!
I wanted to reach out about our lunch stop on the Challenge in Vanceburg! Mary, our Challenge coordinator, accepted an opportunity with the Peace Corps about a month ago so I am transitioning to working on Challenge reservations. I see from her notes that we have a catered lunch to Carter Ridge from Kangaroo Ridge Coffee Shop with a 2pm pick-up time. I was curious if there was a chance we could move this up to be ready for pick-up at 1pm? We also have a list of allergies/dietary restrictions we are working on getting from all paddlers and I was wondering when you would need that information for the orders, if possible. Thank you so much for your help!Cheers,Sophie Ritzenthaler (she/her/hers)Challenge Planning Team ┃ Ohio River Way+1 (502) 544-4184Our Biggest Challenge Yet.On Sun, Feb 1, 2026 at 11:48 PM Joni Pugh <joni_pugh0250@yahoo.com> wrote:I am so sorry I didn’t respond sooner. Thank you for letting me know your budget. I will check with a couple of places and let you know what I find out. Stay safe and warm during this awful weather!! JoniSent from my iPhoneOn Jan 29, 2026, at 2:22 PM, ORW Challenge . <challenge@ohioriverway.org> wrote:Hi Joni,Thanks so much for your quick and kind response. We try to limit our meals to around $20/person. This can be a combination of items or just for the entree. We would love to be below budget, but are ultimately flexible as each river town is different!Thanks so much, Joni!Cheers,On Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 1:13 PM Joni Pugh <joni_pugh0250@yahoo.com> wrote:Sent from my iPhoneOn Jan 25, 2026, at 7:13 PM, ORW Challenge . <challenge@ohioriverway.org> wrote:Hi Joni,
I hope you’re doing well. First, I wanted to thank you again for hosting us in Vanceburg last year for the Challenge and for all your support in helping us coordinate camping and meals. We’re now in the midst of planning this year’s Challenge and are so excited to include Vanceburg as a stop once again!
As you may have heard, we’ve expanded the Challenge east from Ashland to Huntington and west from Louisville to Evansville—covering a total of 480 miles over 23 days and allowing us to connect with even more river communities.
With this expansion, we’ve had to adjust our route slightly. While we won’t be camping in Vanceburg this year, we do plan to stop for lunch as we paddle through on Wednesday, May13th. Based on our current projections, we expect to arrive around 12:15 PM and are hoping to plan lunch for approximately 2:00 PM to allow for any paddling delays or a brief tour of Vanceburg beforehand. We expect to have around 20-25 people with us at that time.
Would you be interested in helping us think through meal plans again this year? Last year we had a partner bring lunch, but at the moment we don’t have catering plans in place. If you have any recommendations for lunch options in Vanceburg, we would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks so much, Joni. I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope you have a great rest of your day!Cheers,