The 92nd annual Medford Lakes Canoe Carnival will be held on Saturday, Aug. 3.
Medford Lakes Colony, founded in 1927, organizes social, community and recreational activities for Medford Lakes. The nonprofit grew out of a resort development in the heart of New Jersey’s storied Pine Barrens on the edge of the Pinelands National Reserve, according to its website.
The colony’s main event each year is the canoe carnival, a parade of creatively-lit, musical, hand-built floats supported on one or two canoes and paddled around Lower Aetna Lake. Event host Lewis Kalb explained how the tradition started out as what was referred to as a “water pageant.”’
“Obviously back in the ’20s and the ’30s there were very small floats, but the concept has remained the same,” Kalb said. “There’s no motors involved. It’s all canoes, and you can either build a float on a single canoe or two canoes, but that’s the maximum … That continues to this day where we have single canoes, floats and double canoes.”
All participants compete for prizes. The grand prize is awarded to the float with the highest total score, regardless of its category. First, second and third place are awarded to each winning float in the junior, organization and single-canoe categories, as well as in each of the tiered categories. For more information, visit www.medfordlakescolony.org/canoecarnival.
“It’s quite a spectacular event,” Kalb enthused. “It’s something that really provides a lot of camaraderie for the community. You have all of these float groups, some of them have been around for over 25 years … You’ll get a group of families that want to have something to do during the summer, and to contribute to the community, as well as having an enjoyable experience.”
Medford Lakes Colony is an organization designed to provide recreation and activities for all ages. There are 21 waterways in Medford Lakes and the colony maintains them. As a private club for the town’s residents, the colony owns and maintains the lake’s community facilities, including the Vaughan Community House, Demby Annex, the Craft Pavilion, five recreational beaches, baseball fields, tennis courts and parks.
“We have 4,000 residents that all just want to help each other,” Kalb noted of Medford Lakes. “It’s really a wonderful community to live in and to raise children in. Youth sports is something that’s quite special; we have beach volleyball that’s going on right now … The pickleball courts are always in use …
“There’s just a lot to do, and it’s an amazing town.”
Kalb appreciates the canoe carnival’s uniqueness and he recommends that anyone interested in the event can check out past carnivals on YouTube.
“It was very innovative at the time,” he recalled. “It’s maintained its tradition over the years. The floats obviously have gotten a lot larger through technology and just the natural evolution of life, but it’s (the carnival) has remained true to its core, which is building a float on two canoes and paddling it around the lake for all the homeowners …
“It’s truly extraordinary, some of the designs that you see and the engineering that goes into it,” Kalb added. “I truly marvel every year at how creative these designers are … It’s just great to live in a small community that has so much to offer.”
