Bring your appetite to Spencerport Canal Days
by Grace Scism
for Spencerport Canal Days
Perusing the food truck offerings is a highlight at the Spencerport Canal Days and this year’s line up will not disappoint. There are favorites that will make a return appearance and new food trucks to try.
Returning this year are:
•Wraps on Wheels
•House of Whacks (macaroni and cheese)
•Kettle Corn Shoppe
•Red Osier/Cheesy Eddies
(roast beef sandwiches, cheesecake)
•RNR Merchandise (Ice Cream)
New to Canal Days are:
•Dippin Dots (ice cream)
•Eat Greek (authentic gyros,
Greek salad, falafel, baklava)
•Melt Truck (various sandwich melts)
•Piggy on a Twiggy
(pork on a stick w/dipping sauces)
The food trucks will be lined up along the south fence of the Firemen’s Field. Flower City Scoops, an ice cream cart, will be on Union Street. Spencerport Canal Days runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 27, and Sunday, July 28.
Canal Days chair retiring after more than 20 years
Ginny Swarthout showcased Spencerport/Ogden community during annual summer festival
by Grace Scism
for Spencerport Canal Days
Forty-two years ago, Dimitrio “Denny” Marra visited The Unique Shop on South Union Street in Spencerport where he brought up a conversation with its owner, Ginny Swarthout. Spencerport Canal Days was in its second year and he needed help. “At first he didn’t ask for help,” remembered Swarthout. “He just told me that he was trying to do all the work himself.” Well Marra finally came around to asking for her help and she obliged, first chairing the Craft Committee and then serving on a variety of committees working her way up to chairperson.
Swarthout is in charge of all aspects of the festival – finding volunteers, coordinating with the Village of Spencerport, and overseeing the finances, vendors, and entertainment. She said her favorite part of chairing Canal Days is working with the volunteers and committees, and seeing the outcome every year – a fun festival with entertainment, food, and crafts that showcases the community. At the same time, the most challenging aspect is finding enough volunteers to cover all of the jobs that make Canal Days possible.
“Several years ago, I attended a seminar where the emphasis was on the importance of having events and activities to showcase the village and town,” said Swarthout. “Events like Canal Days keep the community vibrant and show people what’s available. I know for a fact that people have moved here because of Canal Days – it works.”
Canal Days not only brings people into the community, but it gives back. This year alone, funds from last year’s Car Show and Canaligator Race, plus additional funds from 2019 and 2022 were donated to the following:
•Aurora House, a hospice, to purchase sofa beds for the resident rooms so families can have a comfortable place to rest.
•Boy Scout Troop 165 for a solar powered generator, additional display case, troop flag, and a grill. For several years, the scout troop has helped with set up and tear down for Spencerport Canal Days, along with collecting the bottles and cans from the recycle containers.
•Spencerport Firemen’s Exempt Club to help in updating the party room.
•The Ecumenical Food Shelf to restock the food pantry.
•Ferris Goodridge American Legion Post 330 to repave the parking lot.
•Eagle Star Housing to purchase seven box springs. Eagle Star Housing is a non-profit transitional housing program and offers 15 supportive beds for male Veterans experiencing housing instability.
•The Ogden Special Police to purchase body armor.
•Gates Ambulance to purchase two training tables for training events.
•Ogden Farmers’ Library to purchase two bookshelf end caps in the children’s area.
Swarthout will be stepping down from her position as Canal Days chair after this year’s event to devote more time to her business. “It’s time for someone new with new ideas and ways to promote the event,” she said. “Of course I’m willing to help in any way I can – sharing my notes, contacts, timeline, and mentoring.”
Swarthout is humble when looking back at all she has accomplished for the Spencerport/Ogden community. “My tenure would not have been possible if I had not had the great committee people over the years,” she said. “They are really the ones that have kept it going.”
Anyone who is interested in chairing next year’s Spencerport Canal Days can contact Ginny Swarthout at spencerportcanaldays35@gmail.com, call 352-1466 or stop by her shop at 130 South Union Street, Spencerport.
Canal Days Tasting Tent returns for ninth year
by Grace Scism
for Spencerport Canal Days
The Canal Days Tasting Tent came about in 2013 when volunteers Greg and Denise Schweers, and Bill and Pat Everett decided to pursue the idea of a wine tent. This year, in addition to wineries, the Tasting Tent will again feature a meadery and distillery.
Three wineries will be on hand: Main Street Winery from Arcade, Thousand Island Winery from Alexandria Bay, and Victorianbourg Wine Estate from Wilson.
Returning is Queen City Meadery from West Seneca. What is a mead? According to Queen City, mead is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, or hops. The alcohol content ranges from about 7.2 percent alcohol to more than 13 percent. The defining characteristic of mead is that most of the beverage is derived from honey. Meads may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling; dry, semi-sweet, or sweet.
Festival goers also will have the opportunity to taste products from Springbrook Hollow Farm Distillery in Queensbury, near Lake George. The distillery uses the clean, unprocessed water from Springbrook Hollow, which gives their spirits a unique flavor. Springbrook Hollow distills their bourbon in a custom-made copper pot still, one batch at a time. At their distillery, they sell Cowboy Coffee, Apple Moonshine, Maple Moonshine, and Adirondack Straight Rye Whiskey, to name a few.
The Tasting Tent will be open from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. both days of the festival in the Firemen’s Field on the southwest side of the canal bridge. Admission is $5 per person and ID (valid driver’s license) will be checked at the door. All the vendors will have products for sale and customers can request that their purchases be held until the end of the day, so they don’t have to carry them as they enjoy the festival.
Free Child IDs available at Canal Days
by Grace Scism
for Spencerport Canal Days
New York Life will be offering free child identification cards at this year’s Spencerport Canal Days. Having a Child ID will give the parent or guardian peace of mind knowing that should anything ever happen to their child, they will have an ID with vital information for authorities.
The Child IDs are created using the EZ Child ID System, the nation’s most comprehensive digital fingerprinting child identification system. The digital fingerprints meet industry standards by capturing all vital information required by the Amber Alert system. In only three to five minutes, a Child ID card is printed and laminated for each parent or guardian free of charge.
Child ID cards feature a child’s photo, fingerprints, contact information, and other pertinent data needed by the police in case of an emergency. Please note that children must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
No child’s information or pictures are electronically retained. All data is automatically erased upon printing the Child ID. A document with the same information also is provided for parents to keep in their home safe.
The Child ID booth will be located next to the Children’s Activity Tent on both days of the festival.
Many new crafters featured at Spencerport Canal Days
by Grace Scism
for Spencerport Canal Days
There’s no doubt – arts and crafts are a huge draw at Spencerport Canal Days. This year, festival goers are in for a real treat as there will be 78 arts and crafts booths, plus five not-for-profit organizations and 10 commercial vendors. According to Sasha Stafford, who chairs the Arts and Crafts Committee, over a third of the crafters are new to Canal Days.
“By Buschle” is one of the new crafters that the Committee was excited to have on board. Briana Buschle repurposes items like unique table linens, bed sheets, and other household materials into pants, skirts, and dresses. “We thought this was such a wonderfully environmentally-forward concept for a craft,” said Stafford.
Buschle’s creative mother taught her to sew, and also sent her to sewing classes before Briana went on to study design and pattern making. “I’ve been sewing and personalizing my clothes for over 15 years,” she said.
Upcycled items include thrifted denim jackets that she needlepoints or adds vintage appliques to. Buttons on her repurposed items are mismatched because she gets them from button jars at thrift stores. Even the needles and threads Buschle uses she picks up from estate sales and retired seamstresses. People have donated forgotten or discarded items that they know Buschle will bring to life.
Another new crafter to be sure to look for is Deep Well Farm soaps. Lynne Shaffer, owner, was inspired to start making soaps as a 4-H leader. Her niece, Cora, didn’t enjoy showing the dairy goats or other livestock, so she asked her aunt to teach her how to make soap from goats’ milk.
Shaffer’s goal was to make a soap that looked nice, smelled good, made your skin feel good, and helped with skin allergies and conditions. The pair ended up experimenting and practicing making soap for a year before they started selling their product at their first farmers’ market.
Cora, who was age 12 at the time, learned about counting money and interacting with people in the process. “She received amazing feedback and turned soap making into a business,” said Shaffer.
Four years later, Cora uses her artistic talent to design different shapes and formulate the scents. Her aunt is in charge of research and creating recipes, and also now makes lotion.
“We cure our soaps for a minimum of two to three months, and several of our recipes are six months,” said Shaffer. “One even takes a year to cure.” They use both goat milk and Jersey cow milk in the soaps and have one recipe with no milk added. In addition to soaps in many scents and shapes, Deep Well Farm will be selling lip balm in fun flavors, and lotions, including their Magnesium Body Butter. They even offer a solid dish soap that is gentle on hands and long lasting.
Traveling all the way from Crystal Spring, Pennsylvania, Shaffer heard about Canal Days from her daughter’s fiance, Ryan Wilkes, who lives in Chili and whose family makes laser cut wood ornaments and signs.
Special Police keep Canal Days safe and fun
by Grace Scism
for Spencerport Canal Days
Did you know that the Ogden Special Police (OSPD) is an entirely volunteer organization? Last year, 10 officers volunteered a total of 161 hours to make the Spencerport Canal Days and Car Show a success.
In addition to Canal Days, the OSPD participated in 41 events in the town of Ogden and village of Spencerport last year, including the Memorial Day Parade, Spencerport Firemen’s Carnival, Spencerport Homecoming Parade, and numerous 5K runs.
The OSPD also assists the Ogden Police Department with performing house checks, and being on hand at accident scenes, weather-related incidents, and other emergency situations. They even assist the Police Department in keeping up-to-date records of local businesses by periodically reviewing and verifying information, such as the name of the current owner and emergency phone numbers.
According to Chief Peter Zambuto, in order to serve as a special police officer, individuals must be certified as peace officers, which involves 188 hours of training at the Peace Officer Academy. Training consists of vehicle and traffic law, penal law, criminal procedure law, defensive tactics, and equipment training. To maintain the certifications, the OSPD offers in-house training.
Currently, there are 15 active OSPD members who volunteered 2,067 hours last year. This includes three bike patrol officers. Those who are interested in training to be an OSPD member may complete the Ogden Special Police Application at http://Ogdenny.com.
Take the shuttle – save the trouble!
by Grace Scism
for Spencerport Canal Days
Spencerport Canal Days will again offer free shuttle buses to and from Spencerport High School, 2707 Spencerport Road, to Union Street in the Village of Spencerport. Buses will run from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. both days. Plenty of free parking is available at the High School. On Sunday, July 28, buses will extend the service to the Car Show at the American Legion on Trimmer Road until 3:30 p.m. Handicap accessible buses are available, and the buses can also accommodate strollers.
For the past 13 years, the Canal Days Committee has coordinated with the Spencerport School District to offer shuttle buses and drivers. The festival profits pay for the bus rental and cost of the drivers.
Please leave pets at home. No pets are allowed.
Top local musicians to perform at Spencerport Canal Days
by Grace Scism
for Spencerport Canal Days
No matter what your taste in music, you’re certain to enjoy this year’s musical performers at Spencerport Canal Days.
The festival kicks off on Saturday, July 27, from 10 to 11 a.m. with students from Dori’s Music Studio in Spencerport. Dori Swarthout, a band teacher at Bernabi Elementary School and owner of Dori’s Music Studio, has a lot of music connections making it easy for her to find great bands to perform at Canal Days.
From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Double Down will take the stage with their rock, pop, and modern country vibe that has been entertaining thousands of folks across Western NY for decades. They are pros at getting the party started with songs that make you want to dance, sing along, and tap your feet. Double Down features Eva Mancarella on lead vocals, Mike Panessa on lead guitar, Jeff Snopkowski on rhythm guitar, Mike Putorti on bass, and Todd Heschman on drums.
Some Ska Band will perform from 1:30 to 3 p.m. This nine-member band has three albums under their belts performing a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. The band performs favorite ska tunes as well as their original songs that they have written and recorded.
Wrapping up Saturday from 3:30 to 5 p.m., is No Big Deal, a trio that plays a mix of rocking tunes from a variety of artists. “We pride ourselves on doing covers of songs you love, maybe haven’t heard in a while, and we have fun while doing it,” says Patrick Glantz. His guitar and vocals, paired with Doug Galenza on bass produce epic arrangements of classic and modern-classic hits.
Opening on stage on Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to noon is the Greece Jazz Band, directed by Gary Samulski. They offer a big band sound, playing all styles of big band music from the swing era to present day. The Greece Jazz Band has been performing in the greater Rochester area since 1997, and has developed a varied repertoire of familiar standards, dance tunes, and modern high-energy jazz charts. And the musicians are all volunteers!
From 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., Johnny Bauer, a touring musical entertainer from western NY, will take the stage. He is an accomplished singer, songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player accompanied by Nicki Paris on bass guitar and vocals, and Ryan Bauer, Johnny’s son, on drums, guitar and vocals. They perform country, blues and rock in a soulful Americana style.
Closing out Sunday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. is SIRSY, a two-piece vocalist/drummer group. Charismatic vocalist/drummer Melanie Krahmer and her husband, Rich Libutti on guitar manage to sound like a full band. Their energetic show often includes stories from the road, laughter, and dance parties.
All the performances are in the Firemen’s Field Entertainment Tent with plenty of chairs so visitors can relax and enjoy the music.
