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Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 41F. Winds light and variable..
Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 41F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: May 5, 2022 @ 9:31 pm
This 1907 Rushton Indian Girl canoe is on loan to the St. Lawrence County Historical Association from Canton resident Mark J. McKenna. Tom Graser/Watertown Daily Times
St. Lawrence/Franklin County Editor
This 1907 Rushton Indian Girl canoe is on loan to the St. Lawrence County Historical Association from Canton resident Mark J. McKenna. Tom Graser/Watertown Daily Times
CANTON — The annual Canton Canoe Weekend, which kicks off today, will feature some futuristic-looking canoes and kayaks. Kevlar and carbon-fiber boats will send professional racers flying down the Grasse River on Saturday and Sunday.
But, everything comes from something and everything starts somewhere. To get an idea where today’s slick boats come from, a visit to the Silas Wright House on East Main Street is warranted.
On display in the museum run by the St. Lawrence County Historical Association are two 1907 Rushton Indian Girl canoes.
On loan to the museum from Canton resident Mark J. McKenna is a 17-foot, red Indian Girl Rushton canoe.
“For a collector, Rushton is a ‘must have,’” SLCHA Executive Director Robert H. Clarke said.
In addition to skis, J.H. Rushton also manufactured toboggans.
The canoe is displayed with a pair of Rushton skis.
“Even in the winter, he had to keep his business up,” Mr. Clarke said.
Mr. McKenna’s canoe is situated just past the museum lobby and sits at waist level so viewers can see the detail of the woodwork and appreciate the flawless canvas body.
On display with the canoe is a paddle that was not manufactured by Rushton but looks identical to one the Canton canoe manufacturer would have made, Mr. Clarke said.
“A lot of canoe manufacturers, if they weren’t trained by Rushton, they were heavily influenced by him,” Mr. Clarke said.
Canoe races have been part of the Canton scene since the 1880s, Mr. Clarke said. The early ones were staged by the American Canoe Association.
“Technically it’s been going on continuously since then,” he said.
The Canoe Weekend starts this afternoon with the Rushton Tour, a 4.5-mile downstream recreational paddle from Pyrites to Taylor Park. People can put in any time from 4 to 6 p.m.
Saturday there is a full slate of activities:
• 9 a.m.: Dedication of the newly installed accessible canoe/kayak launch at Taylor Park
• 9:30 a.m.: Modern Rushton Races, recreation races of 1, 3, 5 and 8 miles. This year, there is a special Rushton Division of 1- and 3-mile races with paddlers using Rushton-type “Wee Lassie” canoes.
• 12:30 p.m.: Men’s and Women’s C-1 pro International World Championships and C-1/K-1 amateur races
• 3:30 p.m.: Joe Randi Rushton Relay (Family, Friends, High School, College Challenge and Open Division) — a fun 2-mile relay race
Activities on Sunday include:
• 10 a.m:. C-2 pro, C2 amateur and K-1 special races of 14 and 12 miles on the Grasse and Little rivers.
The Silas Wright house is open today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Johnson Newspapers 7.1
St. Lawrence/Franklin County Editor
Slowly self-propelled. Two-time cancer survivor. Nearly 30-year newspaper veteran.
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