All aboard if you'd like to help out and get in on the action for Schroon's first ever Opening Weekend. Organizer Shelby Davis is hosting an open house at Mr. P's for all those interested in lending their support to the official launch of the Summer Season on Thursday, April 5, 9 am.

Meanwhile, the first entrant into the Boat Parade has signed up. From Shelby:

Just received our first registration for the Boat Parade! Thanks Warren County Undersherriff Michael Badger, we are looking forward to seeing the Marine Detail on the lake 5/26 and in the parade!

Schroon Lake’s Opening Weekend celebration over the Memorial Day Holiday just got a little bigger, with the addition of a Summer Expo in the Park, organizers announced today.

The expo will hopefully feature artists, crafters, local restaurants, business, farmers with produce and community groups, Shelby Davis, one of the organizers told Schroon Laker.

“This is a terrific way for local artists and business to get exposure early in the season,” Shelby said today.

The expo is in addition to the already announced festivities which include a  Blessing of the Boat Fleet,  a boat parade around the lake, a Memorial Service for Vets, a town wide garage sale and a Captain’s Dinner to be hosted at local restaurants.

“We originally planned to have a boat themed market and swap meet to coincide with our blessing of the boats. We still want to do that, but we wanted to open it up to other groups.”

A parade and blessing of boats, a Captain’s Dinner, a dock side nautical themed flea market, a town wide garage sale, topped off by fireworks, could all be part of a new annual tradition being planned to kick off the unofficial start of summer on Memorial Day.

The event is being billed as “Schroon Lake’s Opening Weekend” and is being sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.

“We have our July 4^th Parade and fireworks, our Labor Day celebration and fireworks, and we were looking at doing something to start the season,” Shelby Davis, restaurateur and one of the organizers, told Schroon Laker today.

Shelby said the idea for a blessing of the boats and parade was the idea of Sharon Piper, co-owner of the Schroon Lake Bed and Breakfast. “Full credit goes to Sharon. It’s a wonderful idea. We are now looking at ways to expand on it to make it a whole weekend event”.

The highlight of the weekend would be a Saturday parade of watercraft and blessing of the boats.

“This weekend is traditionally the first weekend, boat owners put their boats in”. Shelby hopes boaters would get into the spirit of the day by dressing up and decorating their water craft.

“We would then have a parade around the lake. We want to actively involve our other lakeside towns of Adirondack and Horicon so they will become part of the parade route.”