Canal Day celebrated in DeWitt

TOWN OF DEWITT – Canal Day was celebrated by the Town of DeWitt for the 54th year on Saturday, July 13.

The event put on by the town’s recreation department took place in Ryder Park and around the perimeter and parking lot of the DeWitt Town Hall on Butternut Drive.

The festivities included karaoke under the park pavilion, face painting with Bippy’s Big Shoe Clowns, a table with faerie dwellings, a cornhole tournament, Mark Noble Designs with a collaborative mural showing a horse tied to a boat on the Erie Canal, and a dunk tank set up by the DeWitt Police Department that allowed anyone who stepped up to knock the officer sitting on the collapsible bench into the water.

Under one tent at the free-admission event, there were beer tastings offered by Willow Rock Brewing Company, Meier’s Creek Brewing Company and Freight Yard Brewing, and at one stand Syracuse Crunch had a Canal Mules specialty jersey on display and was giving away four tickets to a game with a chance to win a hockey stick signed by player Jack Finley.

A few steps away, the DeWitt Advisory Conservation Commission presented a Ley Creek watershed map and a water table diorama from the Onondaga Environmental Institute showing the effects of groundwater pollution.

To the side of the town hall building, there was inflatable axe throwing and a bounce tunnel along with a blow-up basketball hoop. Feocco Family Inflatables also had a food truck on the premises with cotton candy and soft pretzels, while other trucks serving food that day represented Carvel DeWitt with milkshakes, floats and cones; Ali Baba with gyros and falafel; Baga Bowls with acai bowls and smoothies; Callé Tropical with empanadas and churros; and Herlihy Smokehouse & Grill with burgers and smoked chicken.

From 6 to 9 that evening, Joe Whiting and his band performed, and at dusk there were fireworks to close out the celebration.

The long-running Canal Day event was canceled last year due to thunderstorms forecasted locally that August night it was scheduled.

The 2024 event was held about a month earlier than usual because it was easier to have it well staffed considering the college students helping out wouldn’t have to go back to school as soon as they would otherwise.

DeWitt Recreation Aide Brie Hall said she enjoys playing a role in hosting Canal Day because it’s a family-friendly event with attractions for adults and kids alike and more than enough places to sit, relax and take in the fun.

She said the day also brings awareness to both the local significance of the Erie Canal and the fact that the town hall is more than a workplace where meetings are attended and bills are paid.