Shanna & Jim Officiate at the start line in the official orange shirts.
How IT .All BegAN... THe Big BANg & OtHeR THeoRIes
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You can’t really understand the beginnings of the Springer House/New Richmond Cardboard Boat Regatta in New Richmond, Ohio unless you know about the Springer House.
The Springer House is a majestic brick building that sits on Front Street facing the mighty Ohio River. It was built as a riverboat hotel and mercantile building in 1893. Over the years, it has housed many different types of businesses and was called home by many. It watched over decades of changes along the river and slowly fell into decline. 
Nearly a century after it was built, Jim and Shanna Morarity bought the Springer House. It took two years of hard work and sweat to renovate the historic building. Upon completion in 1992, the upstairs of the building was apartments and the downstairs housed a variety of shops including craft and specialty stores, a bakery, and ice cream shop. At the time, there was a group of business owners and members of the Business Association that wanted to draw customers from near and far to the lovely village… but how? Creative ideas were welcomed.
New Richmond was and is famous for their 4th of July parade. So, Jim and Shanna were trying to come up with an idea to keep customers in town after the parade. During the same time, Jim had an employee named Patrick Burke living in one of the upstairs apartments of the Springer House. He was originally from New Zealand, and his brother was coming for a visit. While in the states, his brother was also going to travel north and compete in a boat race. Patrick told Jim and Shanna about races that his brother participated in. They were races where people made and raced cardboard boats on lakes and rivers. Jim and Shanna had never heard of such a thing…
Cardboard Boats on Water? 
They learned that not only was Patrick’s brother coming right before the 4th of July, but that he was willing to show them how to make and race one of these boats. Jim and Shanna thought that New Richmond was a perfect spot for such a competition! The riverbank provided the perfect course and the wall provided a great spectator viewing area.
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The event was low tech, creative, brawn displaying, and downright curious. So, they researched the idea, gathered supplies, and recruited some naive participants. Now, they were ready to learn. The first event had two categories: premade boats and instant boats (boats made that day and covered with plastic). There were five contestants: Patrick’s brother (not included in the naïve category, Jim Morarity, Tim (a shopkeeper’s son that rode on a “boat” that looked more like a surfboard and wore flippers on his hands and feet). Shanna’s brother, Mark Calico made a boat that looked like a giant taco and inspired the Titanic Award, and, of course...
Patrick’s brother won. 
They learned a lot during that first event. One, to ditch the instant boat for later years because it was too time consuming, and two, the races were great fun! In fact, they had so much fun and spectator interest that they decided to promote the event for the following year.
Categories included the fastest time for single and multi-crews, the most creative use of cardboard, the titanic award. Being on a limited budget, they came up with the idea of wooden paddles and various plaques for awards. The races were a hit and the Springer House Regatta was established. As more and more racers entered, more and more categories were added. Businesses and individuals, adults and youth got involved and learned to build and race a cardboard boat. Then, with the help of Marty and Liz Briede and Ray and Nancy Perszyk, and the diligent group of cardboard boat enthusiast, (many who now run the Cardboard Board Museum) the races became very popular. In fact,the race had gotten so popular that The RiverDays Committee came knocking on the Springer House Committee’s door. Realizing the race was a continually growing event, teaming up with RiverDays was a good move & Jim and Shanna decided to let the name be changed to promote the Village of New Richmond on the Ohio 
The event formally became the New Richmond Cardboard Boat Regatta and became the premier attraction at the yearly River Days Festival.
THX to our dedicated volunteers who have been the core of the regatta & the museum success
for 23 years 
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The 2016 will be the 24th Annual Regatta and we expect over 70 boats showing up on the Ohio Riverfront. It takes a large volunteer group to put on the races, but the main man behind the scenes is “Cardboard Boat Ray.” He’s the show cheerleader and takes care of all the marketing logistics.
Then, there is Team Lemon and the hard working people at the Cardboard Boat Museum that truly keep the Regatta & Museum visible all year long. They are the genuine aficionados that make and race boats all year. 
4 LEMONS above
The original volunteer Cardboard Boat Committee plus many others work together on the 3P’s: promote, prepare and pull off the event! 2 GEEZERS below 
The races can now boast a spectator crowd of many thousands of people every year.
The races have grown to 14 heats designed to meet the interests and needs of many types of participants.
There are adult and youth categories, multi-crew and single captain boats. There are boats entered to display their sleek, fast run times and others to display the creative juices of their crew. How many people can successfully (or not) row a pirate ship? There is also a mechanical heat where pedals and rudders and anything mechanical is allowed. Plus, New Richmond is the home
of the World's Only Cardboard Boat Museum and proud of it... In fact, August 2015, Shanna Morarity went to an educational meeting where the school’s superintendent, whom had no idea that she and her husband started the races, bragged to outsiders that New Richmond was home of the World’s Only Cardboard Boat Museum… Shanna just smiled silently to herself & proudly headed home. 
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