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By TERESA ANICOLA
Courier-Post Staff
MEDFORD LAKES
The 71st Annual Medford Lakes Canoe Carnival, a signature event in this small borough, was marked by excitement and also tinged with sorrow.
Tom Paradise, a lifelong resident who has served as chairman or co-chairman of the carnival for six out of last 10 years, officially retired this year. Paradise, whose family has a 30-year tradition of involvement in the carnival, moved to neighboring Medford over the past year.
"I have mixed emotions. There is a certain amount of sadness because I've been very involved in the carnival, but also some relief. Next year, I'll get to sit down and watch it," said Paradise.
This year's carnival, held earlier this month on a sultry summer night, drew an audience of about 5,000 people. The crowd was thick at Beach 1 on Lower Aetna Lake where people sat on bleachers and in beach chairs under colorful lights strung along the beach area. Children swam in the shallow water along the beach while the Hardly Ables String Band entertained the crowds awaiting the beginning of festivities.
Jack Nowicki of Medford sat with three generations of his family in lawn chairs along the beach.
"I feel the canoe carnival is a totally unique event. I don't know how many other places you can go to in the U. S. that offer carnival events like this," said Nowicki.
At the start of the carnival, Paul Zetts Sr. of Medford Lakes was awarded the Mary Conrad Golden Oar Award. An honor for lifetime achievement, the award is presented to a different recipient each year. Zetts has participated in the canoe carnival for more than 30 years in various capacities including float builder and chairman of the event. Most recently, he has been in charge of the judges who rate the floats and determine the winners.
At Carol Latti's home on the lake, about 250 guests gathered under a huge blue and white striped awning. Latti, a lifelong resident, looks forward to the carnival each year and starts planning her party, which she has been hosting since 1984, more than two months in advance.
"I love seeing all my friends. It's such a wonderful memory for the kids," said Latti.
Although 19 floats were registered for the event, only 17 made it around the lake. One float sank and another had its generator break down after making it only partly around the lake, said Zetts. The floats are built on either one or two canoes and are allowed one generator and two paddlers. Platforms are placed on the canoes on which the floats are built. Most of the float groups begin planning and building their creations months in advance.
Ten judges sit at various host homes around the lake during the carnival. The judging sites are changed every year. One of the main criteria for being a volunteer judge is that the person has never seen a canoe carnival. Judges are drawn from all walks of life, from teachers to construction workers, to get a good mix, said Zetts.
Although all the floats were crowd pleasers, some drew more attention than others.
One impressive float was "A Paddle Down Sesame Street" by Christians in Action, where a nearly 20-foot tall Big Bird took center stage, along with the usual cast of characters from Sesame Street. Another favorite was "The Boogie Woogie Choo Choo" by the Dry Docks, which featured an engine with a waving engineer, two center cars with eight-foot dancing marionettes and a caboose which had a marionette playing a piano.
One single canoe float drew loud cheers from everyone around the lake. It was "Proud to be an American" by the Hardwick family. The canoe had a huge American flag made from colored red, white and blue lights and a paddler dressed as Uncle Sam. Its theme song was God Bless The USA by Lou Greenwood.
This year's grand prize winner was Moo Lin Rogue by the Scrub Pines, a float group that has won five years in a row. A 20-foot tall float, it had a huge red windmill, a replica of the Eifel tower, and rotating roosters on bales of hay. It's main attraction was a 15-foot dancing cow with a purple and red skirt, fishnet stocking and red high heels, doing its best impression of a French, Can-Can dancer. Opposite the cow was a pig in a top hat with a green smoking jacket.
Mitchell Thorp, a Scrub Pines member and one of the float paddlers, said the group consists of 20 families who worked on the float since the end of April. He said it weighed between 400 to 500 pounds.
"We pay attention to detail and there were a lot of different pieces of movement. We have some pretty artistic people," said Thorp.
John Todor of Medford enjoyed being a judge.
"I thought it was a fantastic experience. I personally picked Moo Lin Rouge followed by ... Sesame Street," said Todor.
Soma Sarkar of Haddonfield said this was her family's first visit to the carnival.
"It's was very nice. We really enjoyed it," she said.
Police Sgt. Steve Carbone of Medford Lakes said the last three years have been good for the carnival with little problems for police. The police department pulls additional officers from surrounding towns for the annual event.
This year, the main problems were minor and mostly attributed to alcohol consumption. There was one person arrested for driving while intoxicated and one fight, which is under investigation, said Carbone.
"Most of the problems are brought in from outside of town. Just about all the arrests are from outside of town," said Carbone. "They have nowhere to go after the carnival and try to get into private parties and that's when problems happen."
Zetts gave high marks for this year's carnival.
"I think the quality of the floats this year were the best ever," he said. "There were at least 20 children involved in building the floats which gives them the impetus to get involved and continue the tradition."
Reach Teresa Anicola at (856) 486-2460 or tanicola@courierpostonline.com
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