Community Corner

Sojourners Coming, Along with Ceremony on Canal Acquisition

Seventy-four overnight guests will make their way to the Schuylkill Canal Wednesday.

It’s a shock of color when the boats come in.

For the 13th year, paddlers will hop in kayaks and canoes and make their way on a 112-mile journey down the Schuylkill River from Schuylkill Haven to the city’s Boathouse Row. The Schuylkill Canal serves as home for an evening, and sojourners set up tents and settle in along the water.

When the brightly colored boats approach, they go through the canal’s lock at approximately 50 at a time, according to Schuylkill Canal Association (SCA) Executive Director Betsy Daley.

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“It’s a real site to see,” Daley said, adding that it’s one of her favorite parts of the sojourn.

Each year, the sojourners have stopped at the Schuylkill Canal—although the lock started being used in 2005—and Daley said she’s never heard any negative feedback.

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“So far all the comments we’ve received from the sojourners have been very positive,” Daley said. “People enjoy being close to the river and the use of St. Michael’s park.”

While paddlers are given links to hotels and bed and breakfasts at registration, few make that choice.

“I think typically everyone camps out,” Daley said.

Only three years were marred by truly awful weather for the sojourners’ stay at the canal, and Daley said the Locktender’s House was opened up and the pavilion at St. Michael’s Picnic Grounds served to keep canoeists and kayakers dry during the torrential downpours.

The boats will start arriving between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Daley said she hopes for a crowd. Sojourners will remain in the area until a 9 a.m. launch from St. Michael’s in Mont Clare.

“We’re excited they’re coming and we really hope the entire Phoenixville area comes out to visit them,” Daley said.

If you can’t make it for the arrival, Daley said at 6:30 p.m. another big event will take place. The Montgomery County Commissioners will be on hand for a ceremony acknowledging the county’s acquisition of the Lock 60 and Canal Park. The state formerly owned the area.

“People can come out and express their pleasure to the county commissioners and let them know they made the right move in acquiring and preserving Canal Park,” Daley said.

This year’s Schuylkill River Sojourn will have more than 230 canoeists and kayakers taking part, according to the Schuylkill River Heritage Association. It’s a seven-day journey that attracted more than 2,000 participants from 19 states and the District of Columbia over the past 13 years. 


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