MONMOUTH — Can cardboard canoes float? That depends on creativity and craftiness — and how much duct tape each paddler uses.

“We covered the entire boat in tape so that the cardboard wouldn’t get wet,” said Jessica Butler, who won a competition during the Monmouth Beach Party last year in the team category with her cousin Wes Danforth.

Butler said they used three or four rolls on their canoe to stay afloat — but steering wasn’t as easy as floating. 

“In the future we would design the bow a bit differently,” she said.  

The fourth annual Beach Party will kick off this year with the 4 p.m. canoe race July 6 at Monmouth Center Beach.

“It’s a hoot watching the kids basically sink,” said Monmouth Fire Chief Dan Roy, who is also the committee chairman for the event. 

Participants in the cardboard canoe race launch their canoes during the 2018 Monmouth Beach Party. This year’s event is scheduled for July 6, and the race will start at 4 p.m. Photo courtesy of Monmouth Beach Party

Designers can make their canoes in advance — or right before the race using provided supplies — but they can use only corrugated cardboard and duct tape. Any decorations must be made using permanent marker, not paint, which could seep into Cochnewagon Pond.

Last year’s party drew around 1,000 people, Roy said, and it’s a chance to bring business to downtown Monmouth.

Along with the canoe race, the band Tattooed Lies will perform from 6 to 9 p.m., and a fireworks show by Central Maine Pyrotechnics will light the sky over Cochnewagon Pond at 9:30 p.m. There’ll also be children’s events and a bounce house, along with craft and food vendors. 

Butler said she and Danforth grew up down the road from each other and have always been close. In high school they competed in wrestling and cross country together, and as adults they’ve done marathons, biathlons and triathlons. 

“It’s always fun for us to find new things to try together,” she said, though she didn’t expect they’d paddle this year for a repeat of their win. Butler recently gave birth, and Danforth is stationed in Texas with the U.S. Air Force. 

The event was started by Monmouth’s Economic Development Committee. Sponsorship from private donations and businesses pays for the fireworks and the band.

On April 24, selectmen approved spending $3,000 from the tax increment financing fund for the event, which would help pay for items such as the event dock, advertising and toilets.  

Part of Monmouth’s Main Street is part of a tax increment financing district, which uses tax revenue collected from properties on the street to fund economic development efforts in the town, such as the Beach Party. 

Parking for the event will be allowed on Main Street and surrounding areas. Junior firefighters with the Monmouth Fire Department will shuttle eventgoers on golf carts. The beach area will close at noon, and the boat ramp will close at 2 p.m.

The rain date is July 7. Monmouth Center Beach is on Beach Road, just off Main Street.

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