Ottawa’s Illinois & Michigan Canal Day to feature history, fun

With water now flowing in the Illinois & Michigan Canal in Ottawa, it will be drawing some interesting visitors for Saturday’s Canal Day celebration.

One of the highlights of the celebration marking the 175th anniversary of the opening of the I & M Canal will be a group of “voyageurs” from the Chicago area canoeing in and setting up a camp on the banks of the canal, in a demonstration of the trip explorers Louis Joliet and Father Marquette made to the Illinois Valley in the 1670s.

Arnie Bandstra, of the Canal association, said the group will be equipped with period tools, hunting and cooking utensils and much of the cargo those explorers had with them on their way through northern Illinois. There will be demonstrations of coopering, blacksmithing and bowl carving.

The portrayal will include a presentation made at 11 a.m. at the camp, located near the CCC Shelter at the north end of Canal Street between the voyageurs and one of the priests from St. Columba. All will be dressed in period costume, including the priest in a cassock styled after the one Father Marquette wore in that era.

The performance will be repeated at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. that afternoon, just a part of the cooperative celebration between the Ottawa Historical and Scouting Heritage Museum, the Reddick Mansion and the Ottawa Canal Association.

“It’s interesting that when they were here back in 1673,” Bandstra said, “exploring and as missionaries for the Indians – think of that, 100 years before the Declaration of Independence – and they felt then that if there were a canal to connect Lake Michigan with the Illinois River, they could have water transportation from New York, through the Great Lakes all the way to New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. It’s amazing and very interesting.

“We’re hoping we have good weather and sunshine at least on that day for the celebration so people can come out and enjoy it with us.”

In addition to food trucks in the area, popcorn and lemon shakeups will be available at the CCC Shelter.

Many of those towns historically were originally platted by the commissioners of the I & M Canal and came about because they were industrially and commercially connected to the canal. It’s a key part of the history of our area and we celebrate that history.

—  Arnie Bandstra, of the Ottawa Canal Association

Also along the canal will be tours of the only original tollhouse still standing on the I & M Canal between Columbus and La Salle streets and a replica of one of the canal boats that carried cargo up and down the waterway. There will be musical performances by Katie Bell and Dufflebag Joe from noon to 2 p.m., then another by Bluegrass musicians Coffee Creek from 2 to 4 p.m.

There will be demonstrations and races by radio-controlled boats in the east and center canal pools, plus a display from the Dynamic Balsa Hobby Shop of Leonore.

There also will be rubber band-powered paddle boats for children participants that can be bought and assembled for use in one of the pools near the tollhouse or at the Scouting Museum, which will feature a “Rain Gutter Waterway Race” that afternoon.

Visitors also can see the museum’s I & M Canal exhibit and watch a film entitled “Prairie Tides” at either 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. There will be dream catcher kits and other Native American craft kits available to buy.

An Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Social will be 5 to 7 p.m. at the museum at a cost of $4 for ice cream, cake and a beverage.

At Reddick Mansion, the 165-year-old “Jewel of Ottawa” home at 100 W. Lafayette St., tours of the historic building being done at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The cost is $15 for adults, $10 for students. There also will be an arts and crafts market 9 a.m. to 5 pm. at Washington Square.

Bandstra hopes residents of all the cities along the canal corridor will visit and see this commemoration that are a part of their communities’ history as well, not just Ottawa’s.

“There is a connection with all the towns in the Illinois River valley and the canal that parallel each other,” Bandstra said. “Many of those towns historically were originally platted by the commissioners of the I & M Canal and came about because they were industrially and commercially connected to the canal. It’s a key part of the history of our area and we celebrate that history.”

Schedule of events

9 a.m. to noon: Demonstration and RC boat races and display by Dynamic Balsa Hobby Shop, center and east canal

9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: Reddick Mansion open, 100 W. Lafayette St.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m.: French voyageur encampment, west canal pool

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Activities at Ottawa Historical and Scouting Heritage Museum, 1100 Canal St., visit exhibit, create a canal regatta boat, celebrate Ottawa’s Native American history

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Arts and crafts market, Washington Square

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Tollhouse tours, demonstrations, purchase and make a model paddle boat and float, cookie at the tollhouse

10 a.m. and 2 p.m.: “Prairie Tides” showing, Scouting Museum, 1100 Canal St.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Kettle corn, lemon shakeups at the tollhouse

Noon to 2 p.m.: Katie Belle and Duffle Bag Joe at the tollhouse

Noon to 5 p.m.: Paddle the canal, west canal pool

1 to 3:30 p.m.: Reddick Mansion open, 100 W. Lafayette St.

2 to 4 p.m.: Coffee Creek at the tollhouse

5 to 7 p.m.: Food trucks along Washington Street