Canawler Days Review
A Festival Fit for a Canawler!
If you missed Canawler’s Day 2025 at the D&H Canal Museum, you’ll want to circle your calendar now for next year! Held over Father’s Day Weekend (June 14–15), this year’s celebration honored the 200th anniversary of the Delaware & Hudson Canal in true canal spirit—complete with mules, music, pies, and plenty of hands-on history.
The festival’s name pays tribute to the hardworking “canawlers”—those who once moved goods along early American canals. And how fitting it was to celebrate not only the canal’s bicentennial but also the two “fathers” of the D&H Canal, William and Maurice Wurts, who launched their bold vision to link Pennsylvania’s coal country to Hudson River markets.
Canawler’s Day delivered fun for all ages. Outside the museum, the 1889 High Falls postal wagon set the stage, and special guests Dolly and Daisy trotted in from the Gibaldi Family Farm to charm visitors with wagon rides along the 5 Locks Walk. Historian Bill Merchant’s guided tour got a speedy edit—he had to keep pace with the powerful mules!
Figure 1 Dancer Leighann Kowalsky & students
The music lineup brought the patio to life. The Continental Drift Band played Saturday as visitors were treated to a Celtic Dance performance by Leighann Kowalsky and her students. Sarah Underhill and her band kept the party going on Sunday. John Cox demonstrated the Craft of Coopering on Saturday while Sunday featured a 19th century woodworking demonstration by Rick Vanden Hueval.
Sunday’s High Falls Flea Market took a temporary detour from Grady Park to the museum grounds, adding even more energy to the event. Hungry festivalgoers feasted on tacos, sliders, and catfish from Tim Dean’s food truck, while sweet treats flowed freely—thanks to fresh cider donuts from Saunderskill Farm and tangy key lime pie from the High Falls Food Co-op. Over at the Pie Lock Table, a historic pie recipe from Mary Grady of Lock 51 wowed tasters with a bite of canal-era flavor.
Figure 4 Mules Dolly & Daisy of Gilbaldi Family Farm
Figure 2 Postal Wagon
Figure 3 Bill leads a 5-Lock Walk Tour
For kids (and playful adults), there was no shortage of fun. Coal flew through the air during the “Tip the Barge” catapult game, and the bilge-pumping station kept tiny hands busy. Kids posed for photos as hoggees—or even as mules themselves—and discovered 19th-century toys that proved screen-free fun still wins.
Figure 6 Demonstrating the bilge pump.
It was all hands on deck as staff and volunteers made the event a success. Director Jack Braunlein, Historian Bill Merchant, Concierge Seamus Casey, and Educator Nancy Bachana anchored the operation, with board members Carol Ricken, Brenda Hof, Allan Bowdery, and Dave Kime lending hands and smiles. Deb Bigelisen of D&H Canal Transportation Council helped welcome guests in period costume.
The festival wrapped up with a 50/50 raffle and prize drawings. Prizes included a bottle of wine from the collection of board chairperson Peter Bienstock, a hand-crafted birdhouse by our multitalented groundskeeper Robert Becker, a children’s puzzle mystery The Key to Puzzler’s Lock by Nancy Bachana, and a museum T-shirt of their choice.
From mule rides to musical vibes, Canawler’s Day 2025 was one for the history books. Don’t miss next year’s celebration.
