Events will make a Splash in Spencerport

Events will make a Splash in Spencerport

As part of the New York State Canal Corporation's Canal Splash weekend, communities including Spencerport are planning events for August 13.

In Spencerport, Spencerport Area Chamber of Commerce President Joyce Lobene and village Mayor Ted Walker are heading up the committee planning free events from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at venues near and on the Erie Canal.

Canal Splash, a statewide effort, will be publicized in a brochure listing the 85 events and activities along the canal system. The goal of the effort is to promote communities, businesses and organizations in proximity to the canal corridor.

Brockport is making Splash with their annual BISCO organized Art Festival the same weekend.

In Spencerport, free events with an emphasis on casual fun begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, August 13 with a bike ride led by Adams Basin resident Wil Hunter. Bicyclists can meet on the northwest side of the Erie Canal near the bridge tender's building for a ten mile ride to Brockport on the canal path and return (total of 20 miles). The tour will stop in Adams Basin for a brief historical talk and again in Brockport where the annual Arts Festival will be underway. It's expected the trip will take an hour and one-half.

After the outing, riders can plan to leave their bicycles secured behind the Hi-Qual building in the Spencer's Landing parking lot (southside of the canal) and take part in other events happening in the canalside area.

Walking tours noting historically significant buildings and places will be on-going from 1 to 3 p.m. starting at the Clyde Carter Memorial Gazebo on the canal's south side. Village of Spencerport and Town of Ogden Historian Carol Coburn will lead the tours showcasing the best of Spencerport's past. A tour of the historic railroad depot on Martha Street is also included. Efforts to restore and renovate the building garnered the Civic Beautification Award from the chamber group for owners of Expressions of Dance by Lisa which operates in the building.

Spencerport residents and local history buffs including Sue Kincaid, Jeannette Zarnstorff and Helen Moore will recount tales of various other village locations and the tour ends at the R.L.B. Trolley Station on the southeast bank of the canal. Bernie Cubitt and Bud Nichols, the chamber's 2005 Persons of the Year, will be on hand to talk about the work they and other volunteers put into the restoration and relocation of the station.

A Children's Tent will be the headquarters for activities planned by coordinator Jackie Lobene. Creative energy can be used to make pinwheels with pencils, and kinetic energy can be tapped to run an obstacle course or a run through the mist tent. Sue and Greg Kincaid have organized a Kids Bicycle Parade on the cinder path around the Firemen's Field. Helmets are required. Children's and youth games will be held in that area as well. Adult (parental or guardian) supervision is expected for children's activities.

The Spencerport Rotary Club hosts a Fishing Derby from noon to 3 p.m. as well. Marina Parina will oversee a Scavenger Hunt from 12:30 to 6 p.m. Those wishing to participate can check at the Carter Gazebo for details.

Canal elements include a remote control yachting demonstration on the canal arranged by Lisa Versteeg with the Rochester Area Model Yachting Association (RAMYA). Parina and Versteeg are also organizing entertainment for the 2 to 4:30 time slot.

The afternoon includes a watermelon eating contest chaired by Karen Fien at 4:30 p.m. followed at 5 p.m. with a Tug of War over the canal. Tug of War contestants will be members of the Spencerport Fire Department and the Ogden Police Department. The village's summer concert series continues with a concert by Kaleidoscope beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Contributing sponsors to Spencerport Canal Splash 2006 include the Spencerport Chamber of Commerce, Nothnagle Realtors, Schultz Associates and Sugar's Bike Shop.