Centennial Boat Parade

The Adventuress and crowd just before parade start. photo Kyle S.

July 9, 2017 saw a pageant of boats sailing from the Chittenden Locks through the Ship Canal to it's conclusion at the bottom of Lake Union. This was something of a recreation of the parade of boats which took place in 1917, to celebrate the official dedication and opening of the "Government Locks" and ship canal. Several years ago, there was one boat, the Zina, known to exist in the area which had been present for that original parade. Subsequently, two others were found, the Keewaydin, named the Honey Boy in 1917, and the Glorybe. The Glorybe had been burned in a fire and sunk in 2002, but had been rescued, and remarkably restored and still sails in local waters to this day. The Keewaydin, was in a state of some disrepair, but structurally sound, and was bought by a local party who have been restoring the boat to her former classic beauty. Meanwhile, the Zina, which had participated in previous anniversary sailings in the ship canal, was destroyed in a fire, just a few short years before the Centennial. the Roosevelt, which led the parade in 1917, was long since left to the elements in the Panama Canal after suffering too much damage to make repairs feasible.

Ship Canal Centennial Songwriting Competition

As the 100th Anniversary of the official opening of the Chittenden Locks and the Lake Washington Ship Canal approaches, various groups are sponsoring events for the public to participate in or attend. One of these is a songwriting competition sponsored by Maritime Folknet with prizes including hours of studio time at Jack Straw Studios being given to the winners. This is a chance for our musical community to bring their creativity and make it a part of a historical event.

Find more info for the Maritime Folknet contest here

Find more information on the activities surrounding the anniversary celebrations of the ship canal here. You can also find many historical maps, many videos with more to come by Vaun Raymond, articles on the local history and much, much more.

http://makingthecut100.org/

Many of the activities have received support from 4Culture, whose assistance is much appreciated.

Making The Cut Website goes online

Thanks to a grant from 4 Culture, a new website has been launched with the goal of providing links to ongoing events commemorating the Centennial Anniversary of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and the Chittenden Locks. Over the next year, there will be a myriad of activities highlighting various aspects of the water way and how it affected Seattle and surrounding cities.

http://makingthecut100.org/

Many thanks to Stephen Schildbach for the design and creation of the site.