Kids have a blast at Canal Fest decorating ducks
MORRISsILLE BOROrdH – Hawaiian shredded ice of all colors, decorated yellow ducks, a walking mule and soft pretzels galore could all be found at the Delaware Canal Festival on Saturday, June 22.
The event, organized by Landmark Towns and the Friends of the Delaware Canal, took SODFH RQ DHOPRUU AYHQuH LQ WKH fiHOG QHxW WR WKH Heritage Center.
Two sisters and their little brother, all with red hair, were among the tykes who had lots of fun decorating yellow ducks at the canal festival.
Caitlyn Dingle, 9; Sarah Dingle, 7; and their brother, Ronan Dingle, 3, held their creations in front of them to have their picture taken.
Sarah gave her decorated duck a funny name: Ameriquack.
“I just thought of American and I put AmeriFDQ WKLQJV RQ LW,” VKH HxSODLQHG. “FRU WKH VFDUI, I got red, white and blue and just twisted it together.”
Caitlin called her creation “Miss nuackington.” Ronan used sports stickers to decorate his duck.
Landon Hsterlee, 12, and his brother, Zackery, 7, were among the other kids who were intent to decorate their ducks.
Landon made his into a skee-ball game. Zackery’s became a tank.
Aimee Oszer, 7, and her brother, Patrick, 5, came to the festival with their school friend, Olivia Krolik, 7.
Aimee said her bird was a baby duck and had D OLWWOH flRZHU IRU D SDFLfiHU.
“She has a little hat with swirled polka dot fabric and a little bib with the same fabric.”
Aimee named her duck “Lady doogoo” like the pop start, “Lady daga.”
Her mother, Ludy, who is originally from Slovakia, said she had actually been to a similar event before.
“I loved it when they did it in England,” she said about living there. “I wanted my kids to go DQG HxSHULHQFH LW DOVR.”
Cash prizes were awarded to the duck decorators. Local businesses sponsored the contest.
The themes were: Best of Show – “Starry Night” – that looked like san dogh’s painting by the same name; People’s Choice – a duck that looked like it was made of stained glass; Most Imaginative – “Scrub a Dub Dub”; Most Beautiful – “The Pink Nurse”; Most Humorous – “7KH MDUx BURWKHUV”; DQG MRVW 7ySLFDO RI WKH Canal – “Mother Nature”.
drammy Award winner children’s musician Jonathan Sprout performed his latest releases, including songs about American heroes.
The canal festival organizers were pleased with the turnout.
Nancy Sherlock, president of the Morrisville Borough Council, was with Aiden Harris, 13, who was dressed in a furry mule costume.
Sherlock said a committee worked diligently for over three months to make the festival happen.
“The canal festival is a great way to showcase the canal,” she said.
SuVDQ 7DyORU, HxHFuWLYH GLUHFWRU RI WKH Friends of the Delaware Canal, showed kids how to decorate the ducks.
“We’re having part two of this year’s canal fest,” she said of the Morrisville event. “We had a great crowd in Bristol last night.”
Dann Dingle, who serves on the Morrisville School Board, said having the canal so close is one of the reasons he and his wife, Bonnie, bought their house in Morrisville Borough.
Dingle runs on the towpath two to three times a week. The couple packs beverages and snacks, and takes the kids on walks along the waterway, where they teach the kids how to handle the family’s two dogs.
He said the canal festival is a “great community event” that’s especially fun for the kids.
Carol Skuse lives on the other side of the canal from the Heritage Center.
“I don’t see anybody skating on the canal anymore,” she said. “We would put our skates on and go from Morrisville to Yardley. We’d build D ERQfiUH. 7RQV RI SHRSOH ZRuOG FRPH GRZQ here and go skating.”
Skuse remembered the day when she would JR fiVKLQJ DORQJ WKH FDQDO.
She brought her grandson, Brandon Alvaraz, 4, WR WKH IHVWLYDO. HH FDuJKW D fiVK HDUOLHU LQ WKH day. “It was a medium sunny,” she said. Some traditions never die. More Canal Festival coverage on page A17