Allison and I have lived the life we live because we truly believe in the Vision Statement of Canoe Kentucky, which is “Living out Matthew 7:12, also known as the Golden Rule: “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you”, CKY: Canoe Kentucky uses safe-participation, respect, kindness and love-of-the-outdoors to help others paddle their way into those same feelings for the outdoors of Kentucky.”

That journey began like most others, when we met. We had both been a part of the Kentucky Down Under Family, an Australian themed animal park located in Horse Cave Kentucky. Bill and Judy Austin, two of the most wonderful souls on earth, gave the both of us opportunities at the zoo that we could have never experienced anywhere else; albeit that we had these experiences at two different times, not the same time.

Allison had worked there first, at the nudging of her father to get out of the canoe world and experience something different. Her time at the park led her to pursue a path towards becoming a veterinarian, which was fueled even more with her Animal Science degree from Western Kentucky University. She got her acceptance to Auburn for her further schooling, but her dad convinced her to spend one summer back in the family business, Canoe Kentucky, before she left. She fell in love with the business that summer, and started what became her career journey in the paddle sport world.

I worked at Kentucky Down Under a few years after Allison had, beginning his experience as an intern through his Western Kentucky University Recreation degree. My time time at Kentucky Down Under led me to becoming the Head Animal Keep. In this role, one of my jobs was the rearing of Australian parrots called Lories and Lorikeets.

Our first meeting was because of these birds, as Allison’s father, Ed, had purchased one from Judy; Bill and her were long-time friends of Ed’s from past experiences. When Allison came to pick up the Lorikeet, named Joey, I was the one who passed the bird off to her, giving her a 20-minute tutorial on how to take care of him. I later found out that Allison thought I was very cute, which came to light when her dad asked her, “how do I take care of this bird,” and Allison’s reply was,” I have no idea… I was to busy looking into some guys blue eyes!”

About a year later, Allison had returned to Kentucky Down Under on a visit with friends who had worked there since her time. That friend offered to arrange a blind date with Allison and I, which we were both hesitant to, but went anyway. And aren’t we glad we did! We hit it off right away, and Allison even jokes that, “when Nathan said “I am an American Canoe Association canoe instructor”, I heard, “I love you!””

We dated long distance for about 4 months when a job opening came at Canoe Kentucky as one of our managers announced she was leaving. Ed suggested to Allison that they offer

me a job. So Allison broached the subject on one of my visits to Frankfort. My initial reaction was “I am not interested!” This really baffled Allison, but I explained that I really liked where our relationship was going and I did not want to ruin that. Good answer, huh!? But we did discuss it through a longer than normal visit, and I accepted the offer and started work with Allison, Ed and the Canoe Kentucky Team in January 2002.

Working together and dating allowed us a lot of time together, which we attest to our success today. We were spending almost all our time together in a personal or professional way. By summer 2003 we were madly in love, and I made it official. Had a great plan to take Allison on the creek, set up a picnic dinner and pop the question, but she had other plans that night. She invited all our team to paddle with us… “it will be so much fun!”

But I had already set my heart on asking her to marry me, so before we went on the water that night, I got down on one knee and asked her right there in the middle of the Canoe Kentucky shop! And she said YES!

We got married that fall, October 25, 2003. I am a little biased, but it was the prettiest wedding ever. We got married right on the banks of the Elkhorn Creek on a private farm owned by family friends, Jim and Mira Pickett. What made our wedding most special was the many guests, family and friends that came, many of them customers from Canoe Kentucky. We also were fortunate to have 4 of our grandparents there, along with all four of our parents. We even left our wedding paddling away down the Elkhorn in a brand new Old Town Kineo canoe!

Soon after we were blessed to have our first child, Boone. What a change in our life, but all for the best! Boone was a great kid… most boys are; give em’ some dirt and they are good for hours. Our second child, Dane, came almost two years later. And these two boys were and have always been, inseparable!

Dane gave us a bit of a scare when he was only a month old. He was in the ICU for a mild case of RSV, and before being let go to come home, his heart rate jumped to 300 beats per minute! They quickly diagnosed him with SVT, a congenital heart defect that causes the heart rate to go a bit hay wire. Doctors assured us that he would grow out of it, and after one year of taking medications for it, he did. We have not had any known issues with Dane’s health since.

Things went on as Canoe Kentucky grew and so did our family. When it came time for Boone to start school, we knew we did not want to give up our time with the boys, and that’s what school would have done. We work tirelessly in the summer so we can play hard in the winter. This is the opposite of a traditional school year. So with this in mind, we mad the choice to homeschool our kids. It has been the biggest blessing of our lives, although a huge sacrifice and very challenging, but one we would do over and over again if we had to. In fact, when we were making the decision to homeschool, a good friend of ours named Jonathon, who was homeschooled growing up, told me, “I would never suggest to anyone to homeschool, but for our family, it was the right choice.” Those words have stuck with me ever since. Thanks Jonathon!

Our third child, and only girl, was born September 2011. Isla was a perfect addition to our family, and we knew she would be our last. Having a girl rounded out who we were as a family, although we did not know she was a girl until she was born… we are one of those odd family’s that kept it a mystery on all three of our kids!

6 hours after Isla was born, our life changed. We were told by doctors that she had been born with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. We had no idea what that was, but were told, “don’t worry, we’ll fix that!” What does that mean?

We soon found out that “fixing that” would be open heart surgery, They wanted her to be big enough to handle the surgery well, but small enough that her heart would not start growing incorrectly. Being the control people we are, we thought we could decide when this would be, and we would do it on our schedule. We soon found out that is not how it works! Her surgery was scheduled for May 2012, when she was seven months old. That reality of a definite time hit Allison and I both very hard. The lack of control brought me to my knees, and I found myself crawling back to somewhere I had not been in a while; the Catholic Church.

The week I found myself back at church was Holy Week, and I attended those masses, the first masses I had been two in about 10 years. And for those that aren’t Catholic, Holy Week masses consist of mass every day for four days! But it was where I needed to be and when I needed to be there. I met the priest of our church who I had never met, Father Charles, and he really embraced my and met me where I was in my journey. He became the confidant and spiritual advisor in my life that I needed, and I still call on him regularly today.

Isla’s surgery was successful, albeit the scariest 4 hours of our lives, and the worst four days following it. However, it was still the biggest blessing of our entire lives. We had to make choices after her surgery. One of those choices was we couldn’t both be working all the time. So we decided to Allison should step away from day to day operations and be the behind the scenes manager and bookkeeper. For the first time in our lives we were not working together each day, but our family unit only grew stronger.

Along with the choice, we began surrendering our control of this life to our faith in God. Throughout the next year after Isla’s surgery, our entire family came into full communion with the Catholic Church. In fact, Isla was “emergency baptized” by Father Charles in our kitchen the day before her surgery! Dane came into the church next with his baptism, followed by Boone and Allison the following Easter. We are practicing Catholics still today, and know without a doubt that all the good in our lives comes from his intercession.

And so life went. Canoe Kentucky has continued to grow, an we have continued to nurture it. We have always had an owners philosophy that our ideas are only “really good” for about 10 to 12 years. Then new ideas, new energy is a must. Since Allison and I both used up our 10 to 12 years, we made a choice to not only start hiring a new generation of leaders, but allowing them to truly grow the business with their thoughts and ideas. This has forced us to accept new ideas and thoughts, act as an advisor, and assist our team at creating and attaining their own personal and professional goals. A kind of “Dream Manager” to these members of our team, our family.

With this growth approach, Allison and I still felt that we have plenty to give. We had been operating a boat owned by Kentucky State University as an educational classroom. We really enjoyed our time on the river, and we really enjoyed what “could be” with the boat. We decided to partner with our Captain at the time, Captain Clayton, and start a new business with boat tours in mind, centered around bourbon.

We started Kentucky River Tours in 2018. To start this new venture, Allison and I knew we figuratively and literally had to “drive our own ship.” This meant we had to get our own Captains Licenses. We had all our sea-time recorded from our time on the University boat, but school had to be done. We accomplished this at Sea School in southern Alabama. We attended a 12-day, 12-hour a day school. Out of 25 students, Allison was the only female! I have never been prouder of her for succeeding in this environment. It was a challenge, but it prepared her, and I, for the endeavors we would be navigating in this new professional world.

After school we pushed forward with the business by purchasing a brand-new Carolina Skiff and a motor… yeah that’s it! We spend the next months building our very own tour boat, and by late summer, we received our USCG approval and certification… a very big deal! The fun part of the business started in September of that year, and our new chapter was turned!

Kentucky River Tours has brought us as a couple full circle. We are back to spending most minutes of most days together. We work together and we play together. We are not seeing the fruits of those labors paying off as our kids are now working in the business. Boone is currently attending college at Eastern Kentucky University, and his business degree should lead him to be way better than I soon enough. Dane is is high school still but taking college classes, and his road is wide open by getting ahead of the normal schooling game. And Isla

is the one of all three that enjoys most of her time on the river with us on the boat. She enjoys her time with us and enjoys interacting with guests. She knows way more about bourbon than any other girl her age should know!

And all this work has brought us back to doing what we feel we are called to do. We are serving others in our work and our lives. We get to share our love for the rivers, our love for the outdoors and our love for each other and our family with others. We look forward to future chapters, things like retirement, kids taking over, getting married, driving someone else’s boat, doing the great loop, traveling, and more, but we will write those stories soon enough. For now we are enjoying the journey, taking each day as it comes to us, and trying to offer a smile and a kind word to those that we meet.

Thanks for riding along!

Nathan Depenbrock, Co-Owner Canoe Kentucky and Kentucky River Tours