Celebrate the canoe and kayak in Canadian history with a guided paddle on June 26 – National Canoe Day – on the Speed and Eramosa Rivers, starting at Royal City Park in Guelph.
Bring a lawn chair, a favourite light supper, and join the Waterloo Wellington Canoe Club at a pre-paddle picnic starting at 5:30pm.
The paddle will be 6:30 to 9pm.
It will be led by Bill Mungall, who will speak about the history of the river as participants paddle from Gow’s Bridge on McCrae Boulevard upstream to Victoria Road.
People can bring a own canoe or kayak or rent one at the Boathouse kiosk off of Gordon Street, and join the club.
There is no cost to attend, aside from the possible boat rental.
The canoe won over one million votes during CBC Radio’s Seven Wonders of Canada contest in 2007.
To mark the victory, the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough set June 26 as National Canoe Day and events take place in communities across the country.
The inaugural event was a major success, and groups in the United States and the United Kingdom now take part.
The Waterloo Wellington Canoe Club was formed 25 years ago on April 3, 1985, in Kitchener. Membership has grown to include residents from many parts of southern Ontario including Guelph-Wellington, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Brantford, London, Toronto, and more.
Kayakers and canoeists belong to the club.
Last year, the club paddled the entire 300km Grand River in short stretches throughout the paddling season. Paddles take place on Tuesday evenings and weekends throughout the season. The club motto, developed in the early days, is “paddling with friends is more fun.”
Today’s canoeists also owe a great deal to Scottish philanthropist John MacGregor, who popularized canoeing as a recreational sport back in 1865 across Europe and the United States.
Few today would argue that the Canadian identity itself lies with the canoe.
After all, if Canadian film producers ever wanted to depict the opening of Canada’s wilderness the way Hollywood characterized winning the Wild West, the hero wouldn’t be straddling a horse, but rather crouched down in a canoe, paddling off into the sunset.
The current issue of Canadian Geographic Travel features a story by former Guelph resident James Raffan about paddling from south of Guelph Lake on the Speed River past the Boathouse all the way to Lake Erie.
There is a full list of club activities including paddles on www.waterloowellingtoncanoeclub.ca.
For more information contact Janet Baine at jbaine@sentex.net or 519-824-3824, or Barb Davenport at 519-743-3989 or macport@golden.net, or Paul Kostiuk at 519-579-3564 or pkostiuk@gmail.com.
