WARWICK — Moores Pond Beach was not only filled with people, but also with more than a dozen cardboard boats for the “Corregatta,” on Sunday. The cardboard boat race was the closing activity to the weekend-long annual Warwick Old Home Days.
This is the fifth year of the Corregatta, and it drew roughly 100 people to the beach.
Both children and adults competed in the race, which started from the shore, moved around a small marker in the water and back to shore.
Thirteen-year-old Cameron Farley won the children’s race in his boat, “Eager Beaver.”
“It wasn’t tippy at all,” the teen said afterward. “I got second place last year, so it was good to win first.”
Brad Boone said he attended because it is a great community event and because his daughter, Heather Boone, was participating.
Heather Boone, who participated in the adult league, said she used to do raft races against her siblings when she was younger, so she wanted to try the cardboard boat race.
“I came up to visit my dad, and I heard about the boats, so I made my own,” Heather Boone said. “It’s fun.”
Cal and Freddie Fellows said they’ve attended Old Home Days every year since they were children.
“It’s a great time, we come for the fun of it all,” said Cal Fellows. “It’s a lovely time to watch the races and see so many people here and participating.”
During the races, onlookers cheered for their favorite boats, and there was a vote for the fan-favorite boat.
This year “Short Bus” won for fan favorite. Nine-year-old Laylah Goulston was the boat’s operator and designer.
“I originally wanted it to be a pontoon boat, but that didn’t happen,” Goulston said. “But we kept going and with the help of my parents, we finished it. I can’t believe it held up, because it tipped over twice, but it held up.”
Colleen Paul, a member of the recreation committee, said she thought of the idea of the Corregatta after hearing about a contest in Maine where people paddled in bathtubs.
“I proposed it to the beach committee and they came up with the idea of cardboard boats and ran with it,” Paul said. “I like that, it’s a lot of fun and a lot more sinking.”
Other events included the firemen’s muster, which took place in the field outside of the station. The muster includes four different events: the midnight alarm, the wet hose, the bucket brigade and water polo. During each of the timed events, the competing firefighters would receive points or penalties.
The midnight alarm requires the firefighters to put on their gear as quickly as possible, then grab a hose and run across a finish line.
Lauri Gates, who helped to keep track of points, said during the event people would scream and cheer on the firefighters to remember to put on each piece of their gear properly.
“I was telling them not to forget their buckles, because that’s a penalty,” Gates said.
The “wet hose” requires each team to put two sections of a hose together, connect to a fire truck and knock down a target. Similarly, in the water polo event, a team of five people shoot a ball on a guy wire.
The bucket brigade involves a team of four working together to use small buckets of water to fill a larger bucket of water.
Gates said this year was a great turnout with four teams competing: Warwick, Northfield, Colrain and Vernon, Vt.
“The muster is a longtime tradition here,” Gates said. “Everyone looks forward to it.”
The satellite toss started about eight years ago in honor of the town getting broadband and getting rid of its satellite dishes.
Each person got a turn to throw the dish at a target painted on the Town Common.
“The game evolves over the years, some we go for distance thrown, others it’s style, and this year it was throwing for accuracy,” said Town Coordinator David Young.
The town’s annual Old Home Days included other events like an open mic night, a cookout, a dinner and a tag sale.
Jim McRae, a member of the beach committee, summarized why the town has continued to host the Old Home Days.
“We don’t have a lot of structures in town to bring us together. We have the library, the schools during the school year, the churches for those that attend,” said McRae. “We have a lot of intentional events to bring people together. Old Home Days is at the center of that. It brings a lot of folks together.”