The only thing missing was the ship
Top Hat Ceremony in Port Colborne goes forward as planned
Port Colborne was without its first vessel for its canal opening top hat ceremony Thursday morning at Lock 8 Gateway Park.
Mayor John Maloney said it's tradition for the city to welcome the Welland Canal's first downbound vessel, meaning a vessel headed toward Montreal. The tradition started for the city in the 1970s.
Algoma Central Corp's ship the Algoma Enterprise was supposed to be coming through the canal this morning for the ceremony, where the captain would have been given a top hat for the occasion. The ship, however, was held up in Ohio as it waited for a shipment, which delayed it from making it to Port Colborne on time.
There was some excitement as the Capt. Henry Jackman came through, another Algoma Central Corp. vessel. As this wasn't the scheduled ship, however, its captain didn't receive the top hat. Maloney did share some information about the ship, though, such as that it will be retiring after this year.
Still, the ceremony went on as planned, with a fair-trade breakfast to start the day, followed by a warm comedic welcome from the town crier, a blessing and the singing of O Canada.
Maloney said the occasion is an opportunity to continue to celebrate the city's marine heritage.
Niagara Regional Chair Alan Caslin said the first canal was opened in 1829, making this the 189th canal opening.
Cassie Kelly, engineering manager for the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., said the seaway is looking forward to a good year.
The seaway, which Kelly said is in its 60th season, has seen about a nine per cent increase in traffic over the last year and an 18 per cent increase in traffic for the Welland Canal.
She said for this season, the seaway is hoping for 40 million tonnes of cargo to go through.
Other updates to the seaway has been the installation of hands-free locks, although Port Colborne's lock are not among those. With the inclusion of the hands-free locks, she said it is the first automated shipping canal in the world.
Maloney and other speakers at the ceremony noted how the canal is an integral part of the community. The use of the canal boosts the economy, creates jobs and employs hundreds of people locally.
As the Algoma Enterprise was delayed, the top hat will be given to the captain whenever it does arrive. The ceremonial hat is made of beaver felt fur and stored in an acid free box in the climatecontrolled Captain John W. Sharpe Heritage Resource Centre at the Port Colborne Historical and Marine Museum.