Canoes, kayaks and other vessels become battleships, submarines and pirate ships at the annual Yardley Canal Festival.
By: Anthony Stoeckert
It’s easy to see why the Yardley Canal Festival is one of Yardley, Pa.’s most anticipated events. The June 24 festivities include crafts, music, food and creative projects designed around the canal.
"It’s a day where we celebrate the importance of the canal to Yardley," says Margaret Bork of the Yardley Business Association. "In the past the canal has been very significant economically to the town, and this is a day where we can celebrate it (with events that are) focused on the canal itself."
This year’s festivities promise to be particularly special because Yardley will mark the return of the Canal Festival after the 2005 event was cancelled because of flood-related issues.
"We’re glad we can hold the canal festival this year," Ms. Bork says. "We’ve got some new things, some live music, so that’s a nice addition. It’s just a day to celebrate the canal and everything that it meant."
Those new elements also include the canal jousting competition, which will see individuals standing on a board in the canal and trying to knock each other off into the water.
One of the centerpieces of the day is the decorated boat parade, scheduled for 11 a.m. with decorated canoes, kayaks and other vessels gussied up just like floats in a street parade.
The members of the McElwee family are the traditional stars of the boat parade, having won the three previous best of parade awards at the festival. (Prizes are awarded for categories like most beautiful, humorous, imaginative and typical of Yardley.) The McElwees’ past successes have been a Viking ship, a pirate ship and a battleship the U.S.S. Yardley, complete with smoke coming out of the stacks.
For this year’s festival the McElwees dressed up their canoe as The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine. Karen McElwee says the family used vinyl flashing to create the effect. In the past, they used bed sheets, but she decided to use the flashing when she saw it in the roofing aisle of Home Depot because she thought it would stand up to the elements better than sheets.
"It looks like it’s going to stand up to whatever Mother Nature may throw at us," Ms. McElwee says. Of course, there’s no guaranteeing the submarine will be safe from Blue Meanies.
The McElwee family Karen, Paul, 6-year-old son Jack and 4-year-old daughter Caroline worked on the canoe with neighbor Jenny Schaeffer and her 4-year-old daughter, Allison. Ms. Schaeffer is a member of the Artists of Yardley, so her creativity came in handy while decorating the canoe.
Ms. McElwee says the family started entering the parade because they owned a canoe and wanted to get involved in the festival.
"We live on Silver Lake in Yardley, so we already had a canoe," she says. "And we were able to test the boat this year to see if it’s seaworthy, so I feel like we have a little bit of an advantage because we already had a canoe and we like the water and we’re fans of the canal. I just think it’s a great event to attend as a spectator and to participate in because it brings out a lot of community spirit… We go to festivals in other towns, but it’s nice that Yardley has its own and we have this canal in our backyard."
And even though the McElwees are the Yankees of the boat parade, Karen says the family won’t be disappointed if they don’t win this year.
"It’s more about starting from something so simple like a canoe and then seeing what you can possibly make out of it," she says. "It’s fun to let your imagination run with it and see what you make and what can you do."
From decorated canoes to rubber ducks and frogs, another star of the festival is the Great Yardley Canal Critter Race. People can buy a rubber duck or frog at various Yardley businesses for $5 each, or $20 for five. Each entry has a number, and at 3 p.m. at the Letchworth Avenue Bridge, the rubber critters will race down the canal, with the money raised going toward the improvement of Lake Afton.
Something else new this year is the participation of the Artists of Yardley. Members of the group will be working along the canal towpath, working on such crafts as pottery, glass, jewelry-making and others. Some artists will even be painting the scene in front of them at the festival. The works will be for sale at a silent auction toward the end of the events.
The 2006 Yardley Canal Festival will be held along the canal towpath, June 24, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. A free outdoor screening of March of the Penguins will kick off the festival in Buttonwood Park, June 23, 8:45 p.m. June 24 events: decorated boat parade, 11 a.m.; Making a sea worthy vessel out of cardboard and duct tape contest, 12:30 p.m.; Great Yardley Canal Critter Race, Letchworth Avenue Bridge, 3 p.m. For information, call (215) 862-2021.