Three dedications on Sunday As part of the Heritage Transportation Festival, there will be three dedications at the Carrollton Bridge on Sunday. First, at 2 p.m., will be the re-dedication of the rehabilitated Carrollton Bridge. This will be followed by the dedication of Grantham's Landing and Mary K's Overlook, canal-related historic sites that will be further developed. Third will be the dedication of the Wabash Water Trail. Concluding the afternoon will be an antique auto climb, up Carrollton Hill, and a canoe race. Comet photo by Debbie Lowe Delphi's annual Heritage Transportation Festival will be June 14 and 15 at four locations.

The festival celebrates transportation through the years, with exhibits, rides, dedication ceremonies, a canoe race, food, entertainment, and more.

Saturday

Activities on Saturday will take place on the Courthouse Square and at Canal Park. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

New this year will be a Bicycle Rodeo, for all ages, from 10 a.m. to noon in front of the REMC building. The location was changed from Riley Park. The rodeo will offer tips in bicycle safety. Two bicycles will be given away, and helmets will be given to those who do not have one, while supplies last. Call Sherri Cripe at (765) 564-6984 for more information.

A Motorcycle Rodeo also will be held on the Square in the afternoon.

Other modes of transportation on exhibit will include antique automobiles and school hack, highway department equipment, Delphi Limestone vehicles, and antique and modern grain wagons.

The Assian Ruffing Opera House and Carroll County Historical Museum will be open to the public, and there will be craft and food booths, and a moon walk for the kids.

A Norfolk Southern exhibit train car will be parked next to the VFW all day on Saturday.

There will be a shuttle service available between the downtown and Canal Park, on North Washington Street.

The playground boat at Canal Park will be dedicated at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The ceremony will include a 20-minute play called "Life on the Canal." It will be performed by Delphi area youth at 1:30 p.m. and again at 3 p.m.

The play will be presented with the boat in the background, and the audience will sit in the lawn basin in front of the Canal Center. Visitors might want to bring their own blankets or lawn chairs.

The Wheelmen will ride along the towpath all day on their oldfashioned bicycles, such as a bicycle built for two and high wheelers.

Visitors can ride in the canal pontoon boat, the pony cart, and horse-drawn carriage, or walk on Delphi's Historic Trails. The Interpretive Center and Case House will be open, and there will be food available in the park.

Sunday

Sunday's events will take place at the Delphi Airport and at the Carrollton Bridge, each according to its own time schedule.

Airport festivities will start with a balloon launch at dawn, followed by a breakfast. Food and drink will be available throughout the day.

Plane, helicopter, balloon, and glider rides also will be offered throughout the day.

The Carroll Car Club will have a cruise-in at the airport from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

WASK will spin the oldies live from the airport from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the Black Creek Rising band will play rock and roll music from 1 to 4 p.m.

The Delphi Airport is located at 8296 W. Division Line Rd.

Several events are planned at the Carrollton Bridge, located five miles north of Delphi at the intersection of Tow Path and Carrollton roads. Parking will be available a quarter of a mile south of the bridge, at the base of the Carrollton Hill on Towpath Road. Frequent trolley service will provide transportation to the bridge and after the ceremonies, will return visitors to their vehicles. The bridge will be closed to traffic for two hours.

Festivities will begin at 2 p.m. at the south end of the bridge. Carroll County Commissioners will have a re-dedication of the bridge to recognize major reconstruction work and to signify the bridge's re-opening. The rehabilitation work, which included repairs and widening the bridge to 24 feet, earned awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies and the Indiana Partnership for Transportation Quality. The 1927 bridge was brought up to today's standards, but maintains its historic look.

The six-span, 615-foot long, concrete bridge with filled arches was designed by Daniel Luten and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

At 2:15 p.m., participants will walk to the opposite end of the bridge for the dedication of Grantham's Landing and Mary K's Overlook. These are land donations to the Wabash & Erie Canal Association for interpretive development of historic sites related to the canal. Land donors are the Grantham and Johnsen families.

Carrollton is where the Wabash & Erie Canal crossed the Wabash River. Former canal structures near the bridge were the Mentzer Tavern, a popular canal stop-over, and Lock 32.

The Wabash Water Trail will be dedicated by the Wabash Heritage Corridor Commission at 2:30 p.m. under the bridge. This ceremony will be followed by music and refreshments.

Around 3 p.m., there will be a demonstration of a Model T Hill Climb on the Carrollton Hill.

Canoe race

The last event of the day, in conjunction with the water trail dedication, will be a canoe race from Carrollton to Pittsburg. Teams can still sign up by calling the Carroll County Highway Department, 574-967-4244 or emailing highway.dept@ffni.com. The canoe launch is part of the development of the site.

The Heritage Transportation Festival is sponsored by Delphi Main Street, along with the Wabash & Erie Canal Association and the Delphi Airport.

For more information on the festival, visit www.cityofdelphi. org.