The annual Spencerport Canal Days festivities offer a host of activities for everyone to enjoy, whether the arts and crafts, food vendors, car show, canoe event or evening concerts, this community celebration will delight people of all ages. The entertainment this year will include a street dance on Friday, July 28 from 6-9 p.m. Plans are for Union Street from West Avenue to Amity Street to be blocked off. The headliners for the street dance are country western artists Julie Dunlap and High Maintenance with special guest Kate Lee. Promoter Jim LeBeau of Beau Productions came to the Canal Days Committee with the idea to do something special to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the event. “We thought we could do something a little different this year so we proposed the idea of this street dance and the committee said, ‘great,’ ” he explained. Radio station WBEE is sponsoring this event. Children’s activities and a chicken barbeque are also planned as part of this Friday night event. A list of the Canal Days entertainment is included in this special section as well as locations and performance times. The annual Canal Days Car Show will take place Saturday, July 29 at Pineway Ponds Park. This show continues to draw hundreds of car enthusiasts. Last year, 325 cars were entered into this show. Registration fees are $15 per car on the day of the show and the event is free to spectators. Registration is from 9-11:30 a.m. with peer voting from noon until 1:30 p.m. The show includes 24 classes of special interest, original and modified cars. On the day of the show the park road will be open only to show entrants and for handicapped parking until 12:30 p.m. Spectators are encouraged to park at Terry Taylor School and ride the shuttle bus to the park. After 12:30 p.m. the park will be open for spectator parking. The awards presentation will begin at 3:30 p.m. This year’s car show sponsors include Galaxie Auto Parts, Resch Auto Services, PDM Financial Advisors, Barton’s Parkside Hots and Suburban News. The Canal Days Concert will take place on Saturday, July 29 at the Spencerport Central Schools Soccer Stadium located off of Ranger Road beginning at 7:30 p.m. The concert will feature Be Arthur, a local popular jazz music group. The band’s website, bearther.com, describes the band’s sound as, “A generous amount of funk bass, jazzy keyboard voicings, advanced vocal stylings, soaring guitar solos, intense drumming performance, and saxophone tone.” The fireworks display sponsored by New York State Assemblyman Bill Reilich, will take place after the concert. Parking is available at Cosgrove, Bernabi and Canal View schools. The Canal Days Canoe Event will be held on Sunday, July 30. The race will begin at 1 p.m. and canoes will launch on the canal at the Martha Street Bridge and continue east. The finish line will be halfway between the Union Street and Martha Street bridges. The theme of this year’s race is the 25th anniversary of Canal Days. All canoe teams are encouraged to decorate their canoe in this theme. Prizes will be awarded for most patriotic, the fans’ favorite, the fastest heat and a special $125 prize will be awarded to the team that best incorporates the 25th anniversary into their canoe decorating. Eric Bacon, director of Ogden Parks and Recreation and canoe event coordinator, hopes for a banner year for this event. “We are hoping for at least 25 canoe entries. The canoe event is what helps to make Canal Days such a great community celebration,” Bacon said. Registration forms for the Canoe Event and the Car Show are available on the Canal Days website at spencerportcanaldays.com. The arts and crafts displays also draw people to Canal Days. Many people come to see the latest designs and creations. Spencerport resident Bob Hedrick comes for that reason, “I like to look at the different gadgets people have made, like the copper sprinklers,” he said. LeBeau explained how his wife, Susan, coordinates this aspect of Canal Days. “Susan has done a fine job of creating a quality show by screening artists. Our goal is also to grow this part of Canal Days and we have increased the number of artists this year,” he said. According to LeBeau, “125 art vendors will be at Canal Days this year.” Arts and crafts booths will be located along Union Street between West Avenue to Amity Street and also at the firemen’s field. The Canal Days Committee has designed a special logo to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Canal Days. These special 25th anniversary tee shirts will be sold at the Canal Days Information booth for $15 each. “The shirts will also be available at The Unique Shop prior to July 29, and also on Friday night at the street dance,” said Ginny Swarthout, director of the Canal Days Committee. As in years past, any profits made from Canal Days by the Canal Days Committee are given back to the community. Last year the committee donated $3,000 to three different community groups. “We donated $1,000 per organization to the firemen for water rescue equipment, the Trolley Depot for a display case and to Pineway Ponds Park for benches at the Splash Pad,” said Swarthout. Swarthout also applauds the yearlong efforts of the festival committee and other event volunteers. “Although the committee people change, the desire to make the event the best it can be continues to be a priority. Whether it is committee people who have been working on the event for several years, or new people to the committee, all are on board to make it a great event,” Swarthout said. Anyone interested in volunteering for Canal Days may contact Swarthout at 352-1350 or ginnysuniqueshop@aol.com. Spencerport Canal Days continues traditions Twenty-five years ago, a group of community residents came together with a vision to promote the village of Spencerport. The work of this group of committed volunteers continues today with a few of the original members and some new. Keith Ryan is described by 2006 Canal Days Chairperson Ginny Swarthout as, “One of the founding fathers of Canal Days.” Ryan, owner of Westside News Inc., remembers how Canal Days started as the simple idea of a sidewalk sale and how it blossomed into a huge community celebration. “Dave George, who owned Bells Market (now the Spencerport IGA) at the time, asked me, as their sales representative from Suburban News at the time, to take the original sidewalk sale and expand on it to create more traffic for his business,” Ryan said. The other original committee members were from throughout the Spencerport community. Along with Ryan and George the group was made up of Denny Marra, who at the time owned Spencerport Florist, Glenn Boetcher, the director of Ogden Recreation who is now deceased, and Cathy Kilday, the public relations person from Bells and a former sales representative for Suburban News. Maureen Howard from Ogden Telephone and who also had connections to the arts and crafts people, Donna Dollard, the manager of the liquor store located in the Village Plaza, and Steve Schmidt, the manager of the Bells Market, were also part of this founding committee. The goal of this committee was to create an event that would bring people to Spencerport, help increase awareness of the village, and bring revenue to the area businesses. “Denny Marra and I served in the capacity of raising funds among the businesses to help pay for the event,” said Ryan. “The money we raised from the businesses was earmarked for fireworks,” Ryan said. Marra also remembers how the committee came together, “Canal Days was created to give exposure to the shop owners in the village and bring more people here. The first few years were a struggle to put this event together. I remember setting off the fireworks on the Martha Street Bridge,” he explained. The fireworks tradition continues today, however, this event is funded by sponsors. This year New York State Assemblyman Bill Reilich arranged for the funding for the fireworks display. Howard, now the Executive Director for High Tech Business Council, remembers her early days with the Canal Days Committee, “My time with the Canal Days Committee was the start of my volunteer career days,” she explained. She heard of how Ryan was seeking community volunteers to help with this event. “I grew up in Spencerport and saw what other communities were doing to promote their villages. I thought why doesn’t Spencerport put on this type of event?” said Howard. She also was a crafter; she had gone to area craft shows and was familiar with how to contact these vendors. Howard is proud of how the community has supported this event. “The Spencerport Canal Days is now recognized as one of the best events in the area and this makes me feel proud,” she said. Dave George recalled how the event started as a sidewalk sale event. “The folks in the plaza got together and it morphed into meetings with town officials and other merchants. We had luncheon meetings at the Pilot House and we talked about how we could enhance this event,” he said. George also explained how, “When it first launched, Canal Days surprised us all with its success. But it had the positive support from the merchants and the community,” he said. As the owner of the Bells Supermarket, George wanted to become involved in Canal Days for many reasons. “I felt a sense of responsibility because we were a merchant in town and we wanted to give back to the community because the community came to us,” he said. Ryan described how the first few Canal Days celebrations were different from the current Canal Days. “When Canal Days first started it was held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday was always the day for sidewalk sales only. The Canal Days Committee was asked not to have arts and crafts vendors that day so they would not interfere with the sidewalk sales,” he said. Each committee member also took on specific responsibilities, “Glenn Boetcher pulled together events, such as the foot race, through his capacity with Ogden Rec-reation. Cathy Kilday took care of the press releases and such to make the media outside of Suburban News aware of Canal Days. There was a lot of coordination needed and everyone participated in that aspect,” Ryan added. The annual Car Show is another part of Canal Days that has evolved over time. Ryan explained how this event has grown. “The car show, which is a big part of Canal Days today, was not there in the beginning. The car show first started as a Spencerport Kiwanis Club effort under the leadership of Ted and Linda Rauber. It continues today with the leadership of others who had assisted Ted and Linda in its early years. They have built that event beyond what the Kiwanis had imagined possible and deserve tremendous credit for their efforts,” Ryan said. Paul Eksten is the current Chairperson for the Canal Days Car Show Committee. He became involved with this event in 1991 when Ted Rauber called him for help. “In 1991, the show was moved to Pineway Ponds Park and 71 cars showed up. I helped to develop peer judging and have been involved with the show ever since,” he explained. By the end of the 1990s the show had grown to almost 125 entries. The car show took a hiatus for a few years but was resurrected by Eksten with the help of Rich Francis. Swarthout acknowledges how the event has grown, “The car show started out quite small and has become very large and well known among car buffs. Car enthusiasts are always eager to find out when the show is because they do not want to miss it,” said Swarthout. Swarthout joined the committee after the first year and has been part of this committee ever since. She, too, has seen many changes with Canal Days. “One of the biggest changes I’ve seen is that we had to bring on a professional promoter because we lacked the volunteers,” explained Swarthout. “Jim and Sue LeBeau and Beau Productions coordinate the arts and crafts and food vendors and put together the entertainment. This is a good partnership, we have wonderful volunteers and he has a great staff,” she said. She also credits the success of the Canal Days festival to the volunteers. “We have very dedicated volunteers on our committee that meets each month. Some have been on the committee for as long as 15 years. We also are very fortunate to have day of event volunteers who have been returning for more than 10 years. Without these committed volunteers, the event would not be the showcase that it continues to be,” explained Swarthout. Scrumptious treats for all to enjoy Scrumptious treats at Canal Days will delight even the most finicky eater. Whether you are craving a cool beverage or a hearty sandwich, a tour around the Canal Days festival grounds will find any treat you desire. Steak sandwiches, fried dough, kettle korn and Italian ices are just a few samplings of what festival goers might enjoy at Canal Days. Many claim the food is the draw to Canal Days. Spencerport resident Linda Hedrick enjoys Canal Days for many reasons. “One of my favorite things about going to Canal Days is getting some kettle korn,” she explained. As in years past, the Kiwanis Club of Spencerport will sell hot dogs, soda and water and the Lions Club of Spencerport will offer sausage sandwiches and beverages. The profits both of these organizations make from their food booths will benefit worthy community causes. In addition to the festival fare listed below, the United Church of Christ (The White Church) on Church Street in the village will host a luncheon July 29 featuring made-to-order sandwiches, a gelatin dessert, brownie and a beverage for $3.50 in the fellowship hall (wheel chair and stroller accessible). Choice of sandwiches are: egg salad, turkey, ham, tuna or pbj. Members of the Spencerport Unity Masonic Lodge will serve an all you can eat pancake breakfast at 133 South Union Street, Spencerport. Adults $4, seniors $3.75, children under 12 $1.75. The breakfast will be offered on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, July 29 and 30, from 7 to 11:30 a.m. For a cool sip of water or to sit a moment in the shade, stop at the Ogden Presbyterian Church’s courtesy tent located on the exit road from the Village Plaza and adjacent to the downtown stage. Trolley museum is new Canal Days venue For the first time ever, the trolley building, The Spencerport Depot and Canal Museum, will be the venue of Canal Days festivities this year. The museum is not officially open to the public, “The building will be open for tours and viewing during Canal Days, however, it is still under construction,” said Patty Uttaro, director of the Ogden Farmers’ Library and trolley museum board member. Besides tours, the museum will host woodcarvers, musical performances and a book sale during the Canal Days festivities. Throughout the weekend, the museum will host an Ogden Farmers’ Library book sale and the proceeds from this sale will benefit the depot restoration. On Sunday, July 30 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., two local artists will perform as characters from the early 1800s who worked on the Erie Canal. Fran Paxson and Al Hopkins will perform “Annie and Al on the Erie Canal”. Paxson portrays Annie Buchanan, a cook on an Erie Canal packet boat and Hopkins portrays Al, a canal wandering minstrel. Throughout the weekend, woodcarvers from the Genesee Valley Woodcarvers will be outside the museum demonstrating their talents. This group of artists will be carving, painting, sanding, burning objects such as song birds, duck decoys, fish, caricatures, and other animals. Cartoonists expected to 'draw' a crowd during Canal Days The Book Centre sees its share of foot traffic during the Canal Days festival and this year owner Michael Palozzi has invited three locals back to showcase their work and show off their talents to the hometown crowd. Ken Wheaton, who works in ink, John Kovaleski, who draws the syndicated comic strip "Bo Nanas: Monkey Meets World" and Karl Slominski, a narrative artist/illustrator who is concentrating on comic book stories, will be on hand during the event on Saturday, July 29 from noon until 3 p.m. "I've known these guys for a long time - they grew up in the store," Palozzi said. "It will be nice for the community to be able to put a face and name to the drawings these three do." Kovaleski will be signing copies of a collection of his comic strips. His strip was launched by the Washington Post Writers Group in May 2003 and appears in newspapers around the world. Kovaleski lived in the Rochester area for many years and now resides in Pennsylvania. His comic can be found at www.bonanas.com. Kovaleski was also a contributor to Westside News Inc. publications and created a cover for a Spencerport Canal Days Special Section. Slominski said his original goals were to be an astronaut to a rock star but said they were "tricky goals" so he set his mind to art. "I'm currently working on a book called "The Garage" which should be out by November and I just wrapped up a short story for an upcoming anthology book for the UK-based company, Post Human Comics," he said. "I'm working on a limited print run of Spencerport-inspired paintings to sell and convention sketchbooks that will be for sale." Slominski is a 2003 graduate of Spencerport High School. His work can be viewed at www.slomotionart.com. July 23, 2006 |
