The 155th Old Settlers celebration concluded last Saturday evening. Attendance was down somewhat this year because of the hot temperatures but I believe all who attended the festival had a good time. Alan McConnell who is a long time teacher at Delphi Middle School and a professional photographer took some excellent photographs of the activities and visitors during the festival. There are photographs of children and adults enjoying the carnival rides and arcade games. There were two stands who had two Delphi Alumni running for county prosecutor trying to attract voters, church groups selling sweets, and other organizations selling various items in order to raise funds for their respective organizaton. There was a musical competition held on the courthouse square which included oldies but goodies, country music, and rock and roll songs. All competitors gave a good account of themselves. There is a photograph of a stage in the art gallery where a play was performed nightly called "Bad Year for Tomatoes. This was presented by the Delphi Public Library's Red Brick Theater. I asked Mr. McConnell to take some pictures of the new Office Tavern which recently opened after fire destroyed the old Office Tavern which was featured on the website earlier last year. This new tavern used to be the Sunoco gas station located on main street. PS It also sold fresh donuts which I always bought too many. Hopefully I did not forget anyone and if I did I apologize. I hope you enjoy and pictures I hope it brings back pleasant memories. ~ Norm
Some Old Settler Idol judges.
Some basketball at the Settler Slam 3 on 3 tourney.
The new Office Tavern
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NEW STORE IN TOWN
www.martha-rose.com
SO MANY GOOD THINGS COME TO THE CANAL
In the fall and spring of the year the Canal Association entertains many school kids. Watching what fun they have learning is a "payoff" to our volunteers. Just seeing a youngster gleefully enjoying the experience makes you happy too.
Part of the experience school children get (especially 4th graders studying Indiana history) is to walk the towpath for a mile. The things they see and things we later hear about from letters they write leave positive experiences.
The One Room Log Schoolhouse is filled with boys on the left and girls on the right. The schoolmaster tells about the "three R's -- taught by the tune of the hickory stick".
Inside the interactive Interpretive Center they learn how the canal locks operated. Somehow the "whitewater effect" of prematurely opening the gates seems to get the most attention but they understand how boats passed through these structures.
In the gallery featuring the cabin of a canal boat (feels like you are floating on water) as students play checkers at the Captain's dinner table. They can also look out the windows and imagine they are in a lock or stretch out on one of the stacked bunk beds.
At the end of their morning they can play or eat their sack lunch. It seems that many of them would rather play on the stationary canal boat than eat. Kids will literally spend hours on this exhibit perhaps because it isn't a conventional electronic plaything.
Everybody enjoys Canal Park. Even seniors that come regularly just to drive through or follow parts of the accessible vehicular towpath while going on "wheels" instead of water.
Our treasured decades long association with Pat Draper "flower lady" who has a mobility challenge is always interested when it's Spring in the Park. Her enthusiasm for flower beds is infectious to other volunteers.
After months of being without water throughout the winter, the canal has been restructured with a clay liner. Stone taken from below the liner was then placed on the sides just above and below the eventual waterline to keep muskrats from burrowing through the liner and breaking the seal as they have done in the past.
We have experienced dozens of "sinkholes" over the last decade and hope this extensive work will prevent them from forming again. Contractor Jack Cohee is finishing spreading 168 tri-axle truckloads of "blue clay" mined on his son's farm. The original bottom was a streambed during the glacial age 10-15,000 years ago. When turned on again water for this section of canal comes through a pipe at a rate of three million gallons a day from the nearby Stone Company. We continually thank the Company for their "gift" of water and crushed stone for the trails.
A new feature at Canal Park is the Bank Barn (left) and the lady that runs it Jean Howell (at the corner). The M-W-F Volunteer crew is installing the paddleboat dock as a project being done "just in time" as the waterlevel rises. It took just a week for the Stone Company water to fill the 1.4 mile stretch of reconstructed canal.
Back to work on the Lime Kiln site after last fall. The M-W-F crew has been so busy with waterfront construction throughout the time the canal was dewatered (Bank Barn, Toll Booth, two smaller docks, etc.) that the kiln just had to wait. Not to be forgotten this interactive structure will interpret one of Delphi's most active industries of the canal era. The products were plaster, mortar and whitewash and were shipped mostly to the eastern markets.
Now to the beautiful canal boat replica "the DELPHI" as it loads passengers from the newly completed dock. A big celebration on June 19th with a Brass Band playing will officially dedicate this permanent feature.
Last year's big addition of the Warehouse is where the boat is kept at night and in the wintertime raised above the ice for protection. Note the white doors at the semblance of a loading dock -- they will emerge with two murals depicting activity of men loading a boat inside. In the evening it will be lighted. Two sponsors, Canal Society of Indiana and Indiana Packers Corporation provided funding.
The DELPHI quietly approaches the beautiful Washington Street Stone Arch Bridge. Passage is protected by centering barriers underwater thus preventing any damage to the boat from misalignment or wind.
The boat's crew provides a 45 minute ride to and from the new dock in Canal Park's village. In the background is the semblance of the Paragon (town) Guard Lock that was built by the M-W-F volunteers last year. Another feature of the Paragon site is an "exchange" bridge just behind the lock chamber. In 1850 it allowed the mules to cross over and resume towing on the canal section as they left the Wabash on into Delphi on the opposite side.
Travel on the canal boat today can be enhanced by docents reenacting the times past. If you are interested in being a docent, educational assistant or canal boat "Captain" and want to offer your time contact Dan McCain 765-412-4308, Mary Crary 765-564-4661 or Steve Gray 765-427-2912
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