What’s better than kayaking?

For seniors Adam Kelchen, Carson Hansen, Joshua Hilby, James Shover and Jared Helle, a floating picnic table on the Maquoketa River sounds like a perfect way to spend their summer.

“Carson and Adam came up with the idea, and we just ran with it,” Hilby said. “A group of us went to Dubuque to get the materials, and we built it at Adam’s dad’s house.”

The team of five had no problems designing and constructing the table; however, finding a way to propel the picnic table through the water has been challenging.

“Building the table itself wasn’t too difficult since we all knew what we wanted to build,” Kelchen said. “But we are still trying to find a trolling motor to move the picnic table down the river.”

Although some difficulties emerged, the senior boys look forward to using their floating picnic table in the near future.

“One weekend we took it out by Pin Oak to make sure it was going to float, and it did thankfully,” Hilby said. “It’ll be ready for summer.”

According to the boys, the picnic table is an easy way to eat, drink and play cards with friends while floating down the river.

“My favorite part was seeing the final product,” Hansen said. “I’m looking forward to just relaxing on the river with my friends.”