By JOSHUA THOMAS

C-S-E Editor

ST. JOHNSVILLE — On Friday, May 11, two kayakers, along with two employees of National Geographic Kids, UK, docked in St. Johnsville, where they were greeted by some of St. Johnsville’s finest, including Mayor Bernie Barnes, Historian Anita Smith and Montgomery County District Attorney Jed Conboy.

While the kayak crew, which also included Little Falls resident Tom Stock, traveling in his own kayak for the day, were initially supposed to arrive around 6 p.m. Friday to take advantage of numerous Springfest events, their arrival was delayed about an hour by an unexpectedly closed lock along the way, which forced the travelers to remove their kayaks from the water, carry them around the lock system and re-start their journey on the other side.

Upon arriving in St. Johnsville, following initial greetings, with Barnes stating, “On behalf of the village board and all the residents, I’d like to welcome you here for your stay overnight,” Smith presented travelers Richard Harpham (a British expeditioner) and Glenn Charles (photographer and adventurer) with a written history of the town and village of St. Johnsville, a 1757 British map of the Mohawk Valley, and a historic map of Montgomery County.

The travelers, including National Geographic Editor Laura Jarvis, were whisked away from the marina to the Margaret Reaney Memorial Library for a tour of the facilities, including the museum, and to enjoy chicken dinners from the chamber barbecue just wrapping up at the American Legion.

Harpham and Charles were on a mission, traveling in double seat kayaks, to meet as many people as possible on their 510 mile, 21 day trip, which began at Niagara Falls and wrapped up at the Statue of Liberty in Manhattan. Prior to their arrival in St. Johnsville, they had about 20 people traveling in the spare seats so far, from British journalists, to members of each local community. Expedition Manager Simon Bevan, traveling by car and documenting each stop on the trip, capturing information about local histories, noted that the people were the best part of the journey, stating, “Every community has been fantastic. We’ve been blown away by them.”

On Saturday morning, after breakfast at Grandma’s Kitchen, the kayakers arrived at the St. Johnsville Marina prior to 9 a.m. to depart. On Saturday, St. Johnsville resident Terry Potoczny and Jed Conboy were scheduled to ride in the spare seats, but unfortunately, due to what Potoczny referred to as “a minor snafu in communications,” the team from National Geographic Kids, UK, were already occupying the seats.

Thanks to the help of friends, Conboy and Potoczny were able to secure single-seat kayaks, so they could join the crew on their journey to the next stop — Fort Plain. Saturday’s group ended up being the largest Charles and Harpham had travelled with so far, with 10-12 kayaks accompanying the Spare Seat Expedition, including Potoczny’s neighbor, Alan Kalinowski, who rode in a kayak made of wood that he’d constructed by hand.

Potoczny said of the journey, which marked his first time in a kayak, “It was nice. We lucked out, because we didn’t have any good sized boats going through that would make waves. We had a clean ride all the way.”

As they travelled to Fort Plain in just under an hour, the kayakers interviewed and filmed various accompanying travelers, speaking about local history and the experience. Included was a conversation with Potoczny about Lock 33, the double lock in St. Johnsville that he was instrumental in uncovering and making a prime local historic destination.

Potoczny noted that the kayakers expressed interest in passing through the area again in the future, possibly taking advantage of the bike trail.

The Spare Seat Expedition crew arrived in Fort Plain around 10 a.m., visiting with a group that had assembled there, along with the lock tender, for approximately another hour, before leaving for their next overnight destination of Amsterdam.