At a time when it was uncommon for women to recreate in the outdoors alone, seven women embarked on an eleven-day canoe trip from Chicken to Eagle, Alaska. Forty years later, the group wrote about their 1979 adventure and altered the course of their careers.

“When we did this canoe trip, it was not common for groups of young women to go out and do things by themselves, without their partners or their husbands or male leadership,” said Jesse Reeder, 79, a member of the group.

The canoeists encountered life-threatening challenges on the trip that bonded them as a group and instilled a sense of resiliency and confidence in the seven members that benefitted them professionally.

“Every one of us succeeded in our careers in a way women hadn’t really done before,” said Reeder, who became the general manager of the Eugene Water and Electric Board.

“I went on to lead an electric utility (company), which I was the first woman in the United States to do that,” Reeder said, adding it wouldn’t have been possible without the bravado the canoe trip instilled in her.

Pioneering changes to eldercare

“It really taught me I could do anything I set out to do,” said Kamala Bremer, 74, another canoeist.

Following the canoe trip, Bremer joined a team that changed the delivery of eldercare in the U.S.

“At the time, the only option you had if you needed state support for disability when you were older was to go to a nursing home,” Bremer said.

Her team proved three people in the community could be cared for for the cost of one in a nursing home. Today, money is spent on community care such as home care aids, assisted living and foster care for older adults.

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Upcoming Central Oregon author events

Bremer, Reeder and contributing author Deb Jackson Brewer will present their book, “From Chicken to Eagle: Seven Women Paddling Whitewater and Navigating Life,” at two upcoming author events in Central Oregon. Contributing authors will present at the Downtown Bend Library on Wednesday and at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters on Thursday.

The collection of short memoirs is available for purchase at Paulina Springs Books, Roundabout Books and Amazon.com.

All proceeds from book sales will benefit the University of Oregon’s scholarship programs.

“We were all from the University of Oregon in one way or another, so that seemed like the natural place to support,” Reeder said, who graduated from the university with a master’s in urban and regional planning in ‘78. Bremer graduated from UO with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in ‘78 and a master’s in public affairs in ‘84.

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If You Go

What: Author event at Downtown Bend Library

When: 12:30-1:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: 601 NW Wall St., Bend

Cost: Free

Contact: deschuteslibrary.org, beccar@dpls.lib.or.us, 541-312-1063

What: Author event at Sisters bookstore

When: 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Paulina Springs Books, 252 W Hood Ave., Sisters

Cost: Free

Contact: paulinaspringsbooks.com, 541-549-0866