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Quequechan River Art Exhibit	Festival Celebrates City's River Michael Medeiros, Fall River Spirit Correspondent- 7/1/2004  Fall River's main waterway once again came into the spotlight this past weekend, when hundreds turned out at Britland Park for the first annual Quequechan River Festival on Sunday. It's fun to see people discover the place, because it's really neat," says Al Lima, director of research at Green Futures, the organization which staged the festival. Britland Park is sandwiched between the green-roofed Fall River Police Station and the Quequechan River itself, which Green Futures has long been trying to draw attention to. Used by generations for industrial purposes before most of that industry shut down; the hope now is to make it a recreational treasure for the people of the area. And that's the main reason this festival was held. "This is part of a constituency for the Quequechan," says Lima.  But far from being a day of campaigning and lecturing, the Quequechan River Festival was filled with fun events for families to enjoy. The one that most involved the river was a kayaking demonstration that allowed people to head out onto the Quequechan and explore in the small water craft. Dozens of children lined up for the chance to give the paddling a try, and most came back smiling."It was exciting says Nichole Cruz, who kayaked with sister Alana Cabral as a duo. Despite getting caught on some rocks, the two enjoyed the trip, though Nichole came out with a new respect of the sport."I thought it would be real easy, but it was kind of hard."  Alana, once ashore, had her eyes on another of the activities. "I want to go on the pony." she told her sister, and the two soon headed over to the mini-corral where ponies from Roseland Acres in Tiverton were giving rides led by handlers like Katie Edge. Nichole had visited Roseland before, thanks to her teacher, but she was still happy to get another ride on the horses.  Jennifer Lauzon, a 4 year old who also went for a ride, had a lot of fun judging from the smile on her face, and the grandmother Theresa Greenwood was pleased to see the park being put to such good use."This is nice. Really," she says. Across the fields, a rock-climbing wall was tried by numerous children out to test their rappelling skills, Some made it all the way to the top, while others only scrambled up a little ways before dropping back to earth and trying such other skills as archery.  Numerous would-be Robin Hoods launched arrows at a series of targets over the course of the day, though if this seemed a little too violent, a balloon animal booth just a few steps away was a kinder, gentler place to visit. Face painters also brought some relaxing fun, as did a kite crew that had a bunch of interesting kites flying high in the air while thousands of bubbles from a machine they'd set up drifted a little lower above the ground.  Some of these kites took a little training to fly, as Ryan Davoll learned. His round, spiky flying machine refused to leave the ground until he got the knack of the task, and soon the kite was up in the air and soaring."It takes a lot of practice," he says.  As a background to all of these activities, about half a dozen local bands and musicians delivered enjoyable sounds throughout the afternoon. From Michael Troy to the Back Eddy Bluegrass Band, there was a variety of styles to listen to, but all were there to show their support of Green Futures and that organization's efforts to turn the Quequechan from a neglected waterway to a city treasure.  Britland Park is one of the key access points to the river, and if Green Futures has its way, Fall River will one day be connected by a series of greenways that have a central point - the waterfall - that marks the Quequechan's path through downtown, and which is now mostly covered over. So through events like art shows and this first annual festival, it's hoped that more and more people will be drawn to this environmental cause. "Traditionally the Quequechan divided the city, so we'd like to see it unite the city in a way," says Lima, who wants the waterfall which gave Fall River its name to be restored along with other portions of the river. "It would really be a beautiful feature for the town." Other scenes from a great day! Thank you, Pam Lima, for a successful event! We got more press! Read A New Tradition by Daniel Fowler, Herald News back to top