Did you know November was Native American Heritage month? That is part of the information Charles and Carla Messinger were telling people as they offered a braid of sweet grass to smell and animal skins to feel. They had a stand at the Walnutport Canal Festival held Sunday.

A spoon was made from buffalo horn. Cattails were burned as a smudge to keep insects away. Charles remembers carrying them around.There were many historic societies such as Whitehall and Palmerton and churches offered food. R.W. Fritzinger Post 7215 Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, Walnutport, was selling lottery tickets for a basket. Proceeds go to support the troops.Clarence Getz collected and now displays information about Nathan Snyder, a canal boat builder in Weissport. Getz lived next door to Snyder. After he made a lot of money building boats, he opened Snyder's Popular Bazaar - a bazaar was a department store.Shirley Eckhart of the Lehigh Township Historical Society said they had a good day. People from the Kreidersville Covered Bridge were handing out flyers for their upcoming events: Christmas tree lighting on Dec. 10, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and the Covered Bridge Festival June 2-3, 2012.Jay Smar was singing about the "Switchback Railroad," one of the folk songs that entertained people.Barbara Saltern was making bobbin lace. She teaches at the Kraemer Yarn Shop in Nazareth and said it only takes about two hours of lessons to get the moves and then it is a matter of practice. She had a setup so visitors could try their hand at lace making."Restore your local canal" read the bumper sticker. Charlie Derr said the biggest issue is repairing flood damage. He hopes it will be open from Bristol to Wilkes-Barre within a year but admits there are problems north of White Haven. Down south there were problems with a school and a mall that were built on the towpath. Both have been torn down because they outlived their usefulness and the new ones are outside the towpath with land being restored to its original condition. Those were the only two pieces of the Delaware Canal that have to be completed.It was too expensive to go over Route 1 and Amtrak but the possibility of going under is being studied.Derr has worked with the Delaware & Lehigh Heritage Corridor and Hugh Moore Canal Park in Easton.The Animal Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley distributes pet food to low-income families. It is cheaper and healthier to all concerned to help feed the pets rather than have them flood the rescue homes. Check

www.animalfoodbanklehighvalley.com. Northampton Community College gave them space to operate.Ellie Reismeier said the group has a lot of corporate sponsors. Fourteen-year-old Vanessa Segaline began the program before moving to Florida.Marilyn Kaul said the Canal Association is pleased with the turnout. She works at the locktender's house and said there were a lot of tours. Husband Everett said the food was good. The two are major organizers of the festival.Good food could be found up and down the street where the festival is held and is available in great variety.Diamond Fire Company was operating the food stand in the pavilion and manned a first aid station. Also, in the pavilion a Chinese auction was being held.Cub Pack 740 fenced an area and placed arrowheads in the grass. People could search for and keep them without charge though donations were appreciated.Dark clouds gave some people cause to worry but the clouds kept moving past. The cool weather was perfect for the festival.