Champney's West Day's Events Aug 3 – 5, 2012

Friday Aug 3

• There will be a kitchen party at the hall from 7:30 - 11 pm. This is a “music and friends event” put off by The Goose Cove Kitchen Party Group, who are donating their time and effort as a fund raiser in support Champney’s West Aquarium Project. Tea / Coffee and a sandwich lunch will be served. Admission is $7 per person. There will be 50/50 ticket sales.

• There will be an 80's party at Johnny's place from 11pm - 2 am. Darrell and Krystal Freeman are devoting their time and the use of Johnny’s Place in hosting the Party. BYOB, come as you are and socialize. Music by Darrell admission is free. Remember to recycle and have a good time with regard for others.

Saturday Aug 4

• As always down home cooking will be available. Soup, sandwiches and fish and brews will be dished up at the town hall from 11am - 2pm. Prices will be posted.

• 50/50 Bingo games start at 2:30 pm

• Games of chance will be taking place down on the waterfront during the afternoon. Come on down and try your luck!

•The waterfront will be hoping with musical entertainment throughout the day provided by local artists. Come listen to the down home sounds, admission is free.

Sunday Aug 5

• There will be a fundraising breakfast hosted by a wonderful group of people that have decided “to be here by choice in Champney’s. It runs from 8:30 am - 12:30 and only cost $ 8:00 per person. All proceeds of this event will be donated to the Aquarium fund, please come visit for breakfast; chances are it will be more than you can eat!

• The recreation group will have games of chance down on the waterfront during the afternoon starting at 1Pm. Games include ring toss,

• The first annual walking on water event will start at 1 Pm. Come check this out all you need is to have your own shoes that you can walk on water with! The trick is to be able to use your shoes to be able to walk on water out to a buoy, navigate it and get safely back to shore. The person with the best time get’s bragging rights and the company of Martha and Bertha in a photo op.

• The great Atlantic Cardboard boat races start at 3pm, get your boats built and get ready to have a time to remember. There are boats already lining up and crews preparing to show their muster in this race. This year we will also have a $ 50.00 prize for best boat judged as most creative by a panel of judges, and a $50.00 prize for winner of races as an honor for their achievements. Entry boats will race each other this year “two at a time” and compete for bragging rights. There are also challenges being issued and sponsored races that will take place to the finish. Boat crews can challenge each other and donate to the cause at the same time. These changes will deliver additional amusement.

• There will be a treasure hunt for Kids after the cardboard boat races. They will be using metal detectors to find buried things. Everyone gets a cold drink and the person that discovers a marked winning $1 coin gets a $10 prize. This event is held with donations by the freeman family.

• Various singers will be performing on the water front during the day and after the boat races and until the fireworks start at 10 pm.

• Rosie’s Snacks will be donating 15% of Hog Dot and Hamburger sales made during Champney’s West days to the recreation group and the Aquarium Project. The take out is located on the waterfront.

 Ella Freeman Memorial Heritage House is now open daily. The Museum will be open throughout the Champney’s West Celebrations. This would be a good time to visit. The museum contains an artifact display, an audio/visual display, and an in depth written history of the people and the place. There is a vast amount of written materials and numerous pictures of early settlement circa 1675 and up to today. To Read more about the Heritage House Click Here

Champney's West Days August 3rd to 5th 2012

This year Champney's West celebrations will start on the evening of Friday August 3rd with a kitchen part at the hall. There are many events planned for the whole weekend to be capped off with the Great Cardboard Boat Races and Regatta on Sunday followed by fireworks in the Evening.

A full schedule of events and times will be available here on Tuesday Evening. Check back and learn about all the fun that is planned, including an improved version of the races.

Champney's West Cardboard Boat Races

Boats made only of Cardboard, Duck Tape and Paint

The highlight of the Champney's West celebrations each August is the gathering at the waterfront, to watch punt races, listen to music, play games, to watch the saltwater gladiators and witness or participate in the hugely popular cardboard boat races. The Champney’s West waterfront events are attended by hundreds of people, in fact all available space along the wharf, local stages and the road is often packed with people.


The visitors gather to enjoy the Champney's West cardboard boats races

Each year 20 or more unique vessels (creations) made from only from cardboard pasted together with duct tape and painted in all types of designs and colors, are launched into the harbor. All the brave sailors make their runs attempt to paddle their creations about a quarter mile, out to a buoy marker and back to the beach, without getting wet. Some make it while other crews find themselves capsized, dunked or flooded, boarded by other crews and so on, much to the amusement of the crowd.

Some of the wonderful creations are often sailed sideways, in circles or almost upside down, which keeps the spectators cheering and shouting in anticipation of the next dunking. Even still, some boats are sometimes paddled backwards over most of the course, while others sink at the launch site.

The boats come in many sizes and shapes, some look like teacups, others like dinosaurs, and some are hard to explain while others actually look like boats! There has been a toilet shape, a chamber pot, a trawler, a diamond, and a block of cheese, just to name a few. The creations are often decked out with flags and balloons; some have sails made of undergarments and the like, others have themes, some fly the Jolly Rodger and all have colorful paint jobs. Crews have been dressed as pirates, hippies, sportsmen, maids, fishermen, etc. Some folks have been sporting hat and tails and the attire of some cannot be properly described.


An imaginatively attired crew.

It is believed that largest boat in the history of the event was named the Island Ferry, a 20 foot cardboard and duck tape ship, crewed by a dozen people. Not only did the Island Ferry make it around the course, but it did so in style with half the crew jumping up and down, spraying water in the boat and playing to the crowd, without sinking! A Monty crew of brave souls indeed, to jump on a hull made only of cardboard!!


The Island Ferry was created and built by Howard Duffett and family from Port Union

The races are not about winning. No one seems to care about that. It’s all about fun, entertainment and joining into the community spirit. People come from the USA, Europe and many parts of Canada to attend the summer celebrations in Champney's West. Many visitors make boats and join in the race and the smash up derby as a grand finally. These folks have the pleasure of telling friends back home that "Yes it floated" and we made it ourselves!


Compact but extremely creative!

A quote from a story done by Barbra Dean Simmons reporter for the newspaper The Clarenville Packet...

“But it was obvious from the start that this race is not about winning. It's about having fun and building community spirit in the process. And in that goal, the race and its organizers have succeeded. You could see the spirit it in the smiles on faces, and hear it in the cheers and applause from the crowd. This small, rural out port might have its share of fears and challenges in an uncertain world, but they were certainly set on the shelf this past weekend. This weekend was about having fun, celebrating not only the existence of a community but the imagination and do-anything-for-a-laugh mindset of its citizens.”

Click here to see more pictures of the Champney's West cardboard boat races.