Tent Dwellers canoe festival a huge success

Somewhere near Digby, a small airplane took off and headed for the national park.

Albert Bigelow Paine and Eddie Breck, along with their guides, Del the Stout and Charles the Strong, set off on their canoe trip into the wilderness from this point, later the spot from which those staying at Kedge Lodge and its cabins would depart for the boat ride to the lodge. The Tent Dwellers paddled out of the Mersey River, onto Kejimkujik Lake and across to Kedge Beach, where they went ashore and camped for their first night.

Jakes Landing today is the site of Kejimkujik's canoe concession, where visitors to the park can rent canoes or kayaks to paddle along the Mersey River or on the park's lakes. There was a festive atmosphere as people loaded into the big Montreal and Voyageur canoes, while others unstrapped their canoes from their cars and put them in the water, or rented canoes from the concession.

The canoes were soon gunnel (gunwale) to gunnel, and when the signal came, started off for the lake. As they got out on the lake, the airplane appeared overhead, making several passes over the canoes. Photographs were being taken, which would eventually appear on the Tent Dwellers 2008 website, so that participants could download them.

The paddlers made it across to Kedge Beach, where hot tea and biscuits were waiting for them. A campfire had been lit, and people gathered around to hear stories about canoeing, camping and this spring's recreation of the original trip.

The fun was indicative of the whole canoe festival, a signature event on the provincial tourism calendar this year. Every campsite in the park was full for the festival, held over three days, and many came to the park as day visitors.

It celebrated the canoe and canoeing, the best method for getting about in Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site. One part of the park, near Merrymakedge Beach, was set aside for a display of canoes, where people could see examples of traditional and newer canoes, ranging from birch bark to cedar and canvas. Classic cedar and canvas canoes by makers such as Tim Stewart, who worked in South Brookfield, and Harold Gates, who built his canoes in Middleton, were on display.

There were examples of Chestnut canoes, Old Town canoes, Kip McCurdy canoes and canoes built by the Huron. One new canoe that attracted a lot of attention was made of woven strips of ash and covered by fibreglass. That canoe was smooth, sleek and beautiful.

On both Saturday and Sunday nights, there were concerts at the outdoor theatre. Saturday night, the Wilderbeats performed, delighting children and adults alike with their songs about nature. The Wilderbeats are made up of Ashley Moffat and Joyce Saunders and their songs, like Raven and Crow, are hard to get out of your head once you've heard them.

Author Mike Parker, who has written about the guides who used to show visiting sports through the wilderness on hunting and fishing trips followed the Wilderbeats. As Mike got into his talk, photographs showing on the screen, thunder could be heard in the distance. By the time he ended, umbrellas were up and rain was beginning. As campers made their way back to their campsites, a torrential downpour occurred with flashes of lightning illuminating the way.

A planned midnight full-moon paddle was cancelled, not just because the moon was nowhere in evidence, but because it is dangerous to be out on a lake when there is lightning.

By morning there was sunshine, some things dampened but not the spirits of campers. As the ground dried, kids were everywhere and campfires were lit. That afternoon, at Merrymakedge, the beach was packed with people in shorts and bathing suits as the Scott Timber Show from Barrington staged log rolling, axe-throwing, chopping, canoe tilting and kettle boiling events. There even was a dog doing the log rolling.

On Sunday evening, Old Man Luedeke – the clawhammer banjo picker and singer from the South Shore whose star is certainly on the rise – gave a great concert that had people singing and swaying. After that a crowd gathered for a moonlight paddle, the one that had been cancelled the night before.

And as the festival ended, there were hopes that it would become an annual event. - Tom Sheppard can be reached at twsheppard@gmail.com