Sunday and Monday marked the 18th year in a row that Lehigh River Sojourn participants, boating down the river together and stopping at scheduled spots along the way for educational programs, meals and to camp, have stayed in Walnutport.

So when the group of kayakers and canoers began arriving early in the evening June 22 at the landing site just below the Walnutport Canal Association's pavilion, they eagerly began making their way up to the pavilion to eat, socialize, be entertained and set up camp.There to greet them were members of the WCA and other volunteers who had the pavilion open and an all-you-can eat dinner, headed up by Michael Frohnheiser, of baked ziti, chicken stir-fry with vegetables and more waiting for them. Breakfast was also planned for them Monday morning.The Lehigh River Sojourn is a 28-mile guided paddling trip, sponsored by the Wildlands Conservancy, down the Lehigh River. And though it is a fundraiser, "this is also a river awareness event," said Wildlands Conservancy President Chris Kocher."The real purpose of the sojourn is to get people outside, to get them connected to the Lehigh River," Kocher said. "The Lehigh River is cleaner now than it's been in the last 150 years, and we need to make sure we expose people to this wonderful natural resource right in our backyard."He said about 250 people participated this year for either one or more days of the event, which carries travelers roughly 12 to 14 miles per day on the river.The trip began Friday, June 20, with camping in Mauch Chunk Lake Park, and started downriver Saturday, with whitewater rafting from, for the first time, Drakes Creek all the way down to Jim Thorpe.Megan Sciarrino, Wildlands Conservancy's director of annual fund and communications, said they used to take out at Glen Onoko, but this year there was "no gap" and, after an extra two miles, they landed on the shore at Jim Thorpe instead.Sunday, they traveled from Jim Thorpe to Walnutport for the night. And Monday, they finished up their trip by making their way from Walnutport to Northampton."It's terrific. I think it's one of the best family event things (around)," said sojourner Jan Keim, 83, of Salisbury Township, who traveled in a canoe with her husband, Floyd Keim, for Sunday's one-day trip while two of their grandsons and some friends from Fishkill, New York, participated in all three days of the sojourn.But heavy on the hearts of many sojourners as they reached Walnutport that evening was the recent loss of WCA's longtime president, Everett "Buddy" Kaul, who, as Kocher recalled, loved to greet the sojourners each year down by the water as they arrived in Walnutport.Kocher said Buddy was sorely missed this year, then he and Lehigh River Sojourn safety team chairman Jerry McAward Jr. presented Buddy's wife, Marilyn, who is the WCA's vice president/historian, with a framed photo and inscription dedicated to him. In addition, a slideshow highlighting some of Buddy's many years of contributions to the Walnutport Canal was shown afterward.All in all, Wildlands Conservancy members and the group of Lehigh River Sojourn volunteers present said they counted the day's trip a success."We had beautiful weather. The water was at a nice level, not real low or super high, pretty ideal," said Lehigh River Sojourn volunteer committee member Will Erdman. "It was just a great day."