Messenger photos by Rick Palsgrove The “Canal Boat Races” have become a traditional part of the Canal Winchester Labor Day Festival. Participants race their canal boat through obstacles and complete challenges. The team that completes the course with the fastest time wins. Pictured here is the Bickmeyer family as they race to the finish line with dad, Ray Bickmeyer pushing the boat while mom, Melissa, and sons Nate and Noah ride in the boat.During one of the Canal Boat Race challenges, Melissa Bickmeyer had to spin around an oar three times while keeping her head connected to the oar.It’s a team effort by Marti Mittler, Bob Clark, and M.J. Clark of David Lutheran Church as they prepare tasty ears of golden sweet corn for festival goers.The popular rock band Marquis66 was one of several musical acts that entertained the crowd at the festival.The Traveling World War II Memorial and Wall of Freedom, a replica of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., was set up in Stradley Park throughout the festival.John Rarey’s 1966 Volkswagon Beetle was one of the more eye catching cars at the festival’s Cruise-In. The car was adorned with objects that made it seem like a vehicle that is a combination of hippie, surfer, and free spirit.
