TRUMBULL COUNTY Festival to feature canoe rides

The festival will celebrate the county's history and the state's bicentennial.
WARREN -- Canoe rides along the Mahoning River are just one of the activities planned for the Trumbull County Heritage Festival on Sept. 20-21. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
Festival-goers can navigate the river and learn about its historical significance from an expert guide.
The launch area is near Warren's new Community Amphitheatre along Mahoning Avenue downtown. Trips will be offered at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at no cost.
Participants should allow two hours for the float from Perkins Park to Stewart Park and the shuttle back.
Advanced registration is required by calling (330) 675-2480 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. Children younger than 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Guides, canoes
The Mahoning River Consortium and Trumbull Canoe Trails will provide guides. The Red Cross and Trumbull County MetroParks will provide the canoes.
The Heritage Festival celebrates Trumbull County's early history and Ohio's bicentennial. Festival sites will be at various locations downtown.
The musical trio Elixir will offer performances of American music from the 1800s at 1 p.m., 2:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. each day at the amphitheater, 303 Mahoning Ave.
The trio performs traditional music and their own compositions in period costume. In addition to the music, they share histories of the tunes and their composers.
Civil War encampment
The 15th Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery will re-enact a Civil War encampment on the lawn of Warren City Hall, 391 Mahoning Ave. downtown from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day. Tents typical of different military ranks, weapons and other military gear will be displayed.
The 15th Ohio included enlisted men from Trumbull, Mahoning, Portage and Cuyahoga counties. They served in several battles, including the sieges at Vicksburg and Atlanta.
Celebrating its bicentennial this year, Old Erie Masonic Lodge No. 3 -- one of the oldest Masonic organizations in Ohio -- will re-enact the laying of a cornerstone, a traditional ceremony used in the 1800s for brick and stone buildings.
The ceremony will at be 2 p.m. each day on the east lawn of the Kinsman House on Mahoning Avenue.
Professor E.T. Marvel, portrayed by Warren businessman Eric Thompson, will talk about the healing properties of his magical elixir, recreating a traveling merchant in a frontier medicine show. The event will take place on the west lawn of the Kinsman house .
Saturday's shows will be at 3:30 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. On Sunday, the medicine show will be offered at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
John Payne's company of Kentucky Light Dragoons, which fought in Ohio and Indiana, helping the U.S. defeat the British in the War of 1812, will be visiting with their ladies wearing period clothing and using vintage equipment.
They'll demonstrate how a land survey party operated on the frontier.
Portrayals
One member of the unit will portray Theodore Roosevelt and another will portray Lt. Col. Arthur Freemantle, an officer who survived the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War.
The re-enactors will be on the lawn at city Hall lawn from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
At noon each day, the ladies of the Dragoons will share their knowledge of women's clothing typical of the years 1770-1870 -- the styles, fabrics and sewing techniques.
Crafter's Village can be found behind the John Stark Edwards House and Museum at 303 Monroe St from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
Participants will demonstrate the early American crafts of basket weaving, blacksmithing, carding/spinning/weaving wool, chair weaving, embroidery, flax preparation for spinning/weaving, lace making, woodcarving, rug hooking and more.
Visitors to the village will have opportunity to chat with the crafters and discuss their artistry.
More information is available at www.trumbullcountyhistory.org (click on the Trumbull County Heritage Festival link) or by calling (330) 372-4873.