PENFIELD – Programs have been planned for Sept. 2-4 at the Parker Dam State Park.
Friday, Sept. 2
The Civilian Conservation Corps:
8 p.m. – Campground Amphitheater
This approximately 60-minute American Experience film interweaves rich archival imagery with the personal accounts of CCC veterans to tell the story of one of the boldest and most popular New Deal experiments.
Saturday, Sept. 3
Log Drive!:
3 p.m. – Beach
Bring your sand buckets to haul water for our scale-model log drive down the beach. We will demonstrate how logs were moved to the sawmills back before log trucks were around by using “Splash Dams” – Parker’s Dam was one of these. All ages welcome.
From Stump to Ship:
8 p.m. – Campground Amphitheater
This vintage, 28-minute film from the 1930’s shows many of the skills that woodhicks and river drivers would have needed to move timber through Parker’s Dam, and the four other splash dams on Laurel Run.
Sunday, Sept. 4:
Annual Woodhick Games
2022 Woodhick Games:
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Woodhick Games Field
Register for free at the table in the grove above the Cabin Road (look for the banner—registration closes at 4 p.m.) so that you can participate in the Woodhick Games.
Then, test your traditional woodhick skills against other amateur woodhicks in six different events: log rollin’, cross-cut sawin’, seed spittin’, ’shoe pitchin’, doo-doo droppin’ and hatchet throwin’.
Best score will win you an event; best overall score in your division will give you the coveted title of Woodhick or Woodchick of the Year. There’s a Jr. division for those 12 and under.
Note: If you win an individual event, or one of the Woodhick of the Year divisions, you must be at the Woodhick Awards program at 6 p.m. to receive your prize(s).
Arrival of Smokey Bear:
1 p.m. – Woodhick Games Field
Smokey Bear will be in the park for a while to greet the competitors, their families, and other park visitors. Be sure to say hello.
Woodhick Camp Demonstrations:
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Woodhick Games Field
Watch the blacksmith as he shows off his skills with iron. Other woodhicks will be demonstrating the skills used in the woods and along the waters. Look for the tools-of-the-time display and the camp cook’s tent, too.
Log Birling Demonstration:
5 p.m. – Lake Shore, below the Woodhick Games Field
When driving logs downriver, balance was a skill you must possess, or face deadly consequences. The stakes aren’t as high, but bragging rights are on the line when woodhicks face off in the sport of birling. Come watch and cheer them on.
2022 Woodhick Awards:
6 p.m. – Woodhick Games Field
The competitors have given it their all, now it’s time to reward them. The winners of each event will be awarded their prizes; however, winners must be present to receive their treasures.
Then, we will crown the 2022 Woodhick, Woodchick, Jr. Woodhick, and Jr. Woodchick of the Year. Come congratulate all of the winners.
You can keep up on what is happening at the park by liking “Parker Dam State Park” on Facebook; and, you can find more information about state park programs and special events by logging on to the Bureau of State Parks Web site at www.VisitPAParks.com, and clicking on “Events” to reach the Calendar of Events site.