MAY 18, 2009

A TRIO OF EXCITING PRESENTERS HEADLINE THE FIRST ANNUAL WASHINGTON ISLAND CANOE & KAYAK EVENT, JUNE 19, 20 & 21.

Bicentennial re-enactment of the 1681 LaSalle Expedition leader, Reid Lewis, voyageur rendezvous with Project Lakewell, Inc., and Pottawatomie Spiritual Elder presenting at the Washington Island Canoe and Kayak weekend, Door County.

Click here for high res photos: http://www.doorcountyvisitorbureau.org/Rendezvous.htm

Voices of Our Past, a fur-trade rendezvous will be created at Red Barn Park on Saturday, June 20. An historic re-enactment and encampment with Project Lakewell, Inc., a five-member teaching team is the centerpiece of the weekends environmental education symposium interpreting French Voyageurs, Metis, and other characters in traditional regalia. Visitors can interact with the educators and learn about wilderness ecology, environmental preservation, and centuries-old survival skills.

The historic Lake Michigan car ferry S.S. Badger will provide passage for the five-member voyageur team and their canoe from Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin on June 19 and return on June 21. The voyageur canoes and the S.S. Badger both have significant roles in the maritime heritage of the Great Lakes, and while the Badger features a lot of modern-day amenities, at heart she is very much a piece of living history, says Kari Karr of the S. S. Badger.

On Sunday, June 21st, the Project Lakewell re-enactors will paddle a 26-foot reproduction birch-bark canoe across Deaths Door from Washington Island, Wisconsin to Northport on the Door County mainland with a fleet of kayaks and canoes, pilot boats and the Washington Island Ferry Line.

Billy Daniels Jr., Pottawatomie Spiritual Elder and County Pottawatomie Director of Language and Culture of the Forest Community offers prayers and reflections on the historical significance of the Deaths Door passage on Sunday, June 21, before the regatta launches from Washington Island to Northport.

Reid Henri Lewis, historian, adventurer, and cultural preservationist, is the keynote presenter at Washington Islands Trueblood Performing Arts Center on Saturday, June 20th at 8:00pm. Lewis will recount his experience leading an 8-month, 23-man expedition through the cruelest Midwestern winter on record to re-create LaSalles epic 1681 voyage from Montreal to the Gulf of Mexico. His presentation is a vivid multi-media spectacle including live narration, powerful audiovisual effects, story and song. People Magazine has called Lewiss expedition a "dramatic" and "arduous" historical adventure, re-created in "harrowing detail."

Project Lakewell, Billy Daniels, Jr. and Reid Lewis round out a full roster of weekend activities and events, including a kayak symposium where novices and experienced paddlers can hone their skills with instruction by world-class kayakers. Experienced paddlers are registering for the marathon kayak race circumnavigating Washington Island. Beginner and intermediate races in Detroit Harbor are offered too. Families and spectators welcome! Washington Island provides hospitality and activities for all ages and abilities, including the Art & Nature Center, School House Beach, Farm and Maritime Museums, Mountain Park and Lookout Tower, Sievers School of Fiber Arts, Ostrich Farm, restaurants, hotels, retail stores, golfing and biking.

To find out more about the Washington Island Canoe and Kayak Event and to register for the races, symposium and Death's Door Crossing log onto http://www.washingtonislandcanoeandkayakevent.com or call (920) 847-2400. Registration for the kayak symposium is limited to maintain a 1:6 instructor/student ratio, so call now to reserve your spot!

Click here for high res photos: ttp://www.doorcountyvisitorbureau.org/Rendezvous.htm