Phil White talks about a great loss to the open water swimming community:

“Today I lost a friend. as did the Tribe of Kingdom Nation, her family, and her many friends. Anita Gariepy died of an aneurism.
When I first met Anita, she had great legs, a wonderful smile, a joyful, crackling laugh, and a love of people and adventure. Her friend and sister-in-law at the time, Hayley Joseph, had joined the Kingdom Games as a volunteer escort kayaker for open water swimmers. 

Anita quit her job at Ray’s Market in Irasburg, in part, because her Saturday hours prevented her from joining the fun as a volunteer yacker. Learning that, I knew that Anita was my kind of pal.

She was a strong athlete and a great escort yacker.  Swimmers loved having her as an escort.  She was steady on the course and attentive to her swimmers’ needs.  And, when things were calm, she would drape her legs over the sides to “sun them up” and wave and smile as the patrol boats went by. I called her our “Glam Yacker.” 

She volunteered for all of our Kingdom Games. She and Pam Ladds were the well-dressed “Turn Around Girls” at the 10 km Turnaround at the Dandy each year for many years.  She and Kathleene Marcil would sign the course riding in the back of the pickup going slow over the dirt roads through the dandelion fields and feeling the breeze (like our dog Tito who likes to stick his head out the window). Laughing and talking. And for many years, she volunteered as a “Greeter” or “Go Go Girl” at our Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival, out on the ice, helping direct swimmers to their lanes, sometimes in -10°F weather with feisty winds. She was tough.

I loved her telling her version of The Great Skate, a time we plowed the 25-mile length of Lake Memphremagog TWICE.  We had about 40 skaters sign on. She and Haley supported the skate with two snowmobiles.  With their suits, helmets, smiles and beautiful faces, we called them our Charlie’s Angels. It was  one of the many great adventures of my life. 

After Tim Patenaude and I had plowed the lake once, it snowed heavily enough to obliterate our trail.  Tim would not go back out on the lake, but he rented me one of his trucks for the day.  So I re-plowed the lake as we went, smashed a window when I got myself locked out of the truck in the middle of the lake, rode back from Magog, the truck and two sleds, each with a passenger, at night on fumes, and checked in to the Derby Line Customs office (from the South), with Anita chatting with the agent about the spinning class she was leading and he was attending. Looking at the amazed eyes of our three passengers, when she did … and thinking, yes, this is our life in the Kingdom hard by the Canadian Border. 

Anita and Kathleene became fast friends. Hiking and landscaping together. And, always laughing.  She loved to hike the many mountains in our area and bike the roads.

Goodbye, dear heart. Glam Yacker Extraordinaire. My friend of many years and a joy to many. In my heart, you will always live, as a candle with a silver flame.

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