Paddle pusher makes waves.

• Position: Dan River Paddle owner Leon Irving

Paddle pusher makes waves

Leon Irving is frequently up a creek, but never without a paddle. He won the 1990 national championship in slalom canoeing, and he churns out about 1,000 handmade paddles a year in his 30-by-50-foot shop east of Madison.

Irving, 31 provides the industry in the cottage. "I basically do everything," he says. Except keep the books> that's wife Susan's job. Irving, who sold his first paddle in 1984, now sells to 44 dealers across the country. His company, Dan River Paddle, has grown so much that he was able to drop his day job as a truck front-end mechanic in 1988 to concentrate on making paddles.

"They are the best in the industry," declares Bob Taylor, owner of Appomattox River Co. in Farmville, Va., and Irving's first big buyer. "People who are into equipment have to have one of Leon's paddles."

Irving grew up in Rockingham County and learned to canoe on the family goldfish farm and on the nearby Mayo and Dan Rivers. But when he and his brother, Bobby, entered their first race together, they were soundly trounced.

In 1982, Irving met canoeist Andy Hailey, who in one race passed Irving as though he were tied to a tree. Hailey made his own paddles, so Irving set about doing likewise.

He and his brother raced with his first heavy creations. "They wore us slam out," Irving admits. "I knew I had to work on my design."

He lightened and refined his paddles and now offers three models: the standard Irving, the Eagle Falls and the top-of-the-line Dan River. He uses especially light woods, Western red cedar and basswood, in the shaft and ash, which is stronger, on the blade edge. He uses Fiberglas to reinforce the construction and protect the wood.

The 20-ounce Irving sells for $84.95, and the 19-ounce Dan River goes for $134.95. Their differences seem slight to novices, but they matter to racers.

Irving was using one of his creations when he won the national championship in Indianapolis last year. "If I hadn't had a real good paddle," he says, "I wouldn't have gotten anywhere."

He wants to give

business more class

School is school, and business is business, and "never the twain shall meet," as Kipling might have said. But David Thomas is out to change that.

As the newly named assistant dean for corporate and community relations at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Education, Thomas will serve as liaison between schools and business.

"We need to get business...