Staunton River Fun Float Day has subdued atmosphere

The questions for Staunton River boaters on Fun Float Day normally include how long they will be on the river, what sort of creative rafts they will see and how wild the party will get.

It’s never, will anyone show up.

Yet just a fraction of the usual crowd of thousands came to the 33rd annual Staunton River Fun Float day in Long Island, organizers and participants said. Park land normally covered with tents and campers the night before the float was mostly empty, with only a smattering of campsites.

With local law enforcement laying down what some called a wet blanket on Fun Float Day, many skipped the event altogether. Concerns about excessive drinking, drug use and other rowdiness on the river and in Long Island Park triggered Campbell County police and other agencies to crack down on the party. The effort was related to a drowning on the river during last year’s event.

Signs posted at Long Island Park warned that no alcohol was allowed on the property, and there was a heavy police presence as boaters took to the water Saturday morning. While no one was ticketed for having alcohol yesterday, Friday night police issued five alcohol-related citations and told some to leave.

The float, which was in its 33rd year, was started by the Long Island Ruritan Club as a family event, organizer Gayle Fannon said. The goal was to float the Staunton on whatever could make it down the river. Some of the fun, she said, was figuring out which boats would make the entire journey and which people would end up swimming part of the way.

In recent years, several thousand people came and it took hours to unload all the boats and rafts into the river. At the Long Island boat launch, some recalled how one could walk across the river in boats because so many canoes and kayaks were sitting in the water.

This year, there was no line to put boats in and the river was completely clear of boaters once they passed downstream.

Much of the creativity that makes fun float day unique, Fannon said, was missing Saturday. In previous years, many floaters would decorate their canoes or rafts as well as wear silly costumes. She saw only one boat that was decorated this year— a canoe that had been turned into a pirate ship with a bamboo mast, glittery streamers and a spray-painted hull to look like wood.

About 2 p.m. the first floaters arrived in Brookneal. Warren Wright, who lives in Oxford, N.C., said the river was empty this year. He knew about the crackdown and because of that, decided to bring his wife Tammy and daughter along for the float. “I didn’t want them around all the rowdiness,” he said. He felt the lack of participation was due to the heavy law enforcement presence and crackdown. “I didn’t see the police harassing anybody,” he said. “It’s just (floaters) knew (police) would be there, so they didn’t show up.”

Capt. Kevin Schmidt, with the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office said though alcohol is banned from the county-owned Long Island Park, it can be brought on the water if floaters access the river through private property.

Fannon said she felt many were doing that and Wright said he saw many more people on private property than in years past. However, unless deputies suspected something, Fannon said, they could not search coolers at the park and she did not see any law enforcement doing that Saturday morning.

The crackdown and lack of participation, Wright said, “really hurt the Ruritan Club. I think the Ruritan Club is a good club. I hate to see them hurt, but I can see the other side of the issue.”

Fannon said she felt that the show of force was “overkill” and that the Ruritan Club likely would lose money from the event that usually is its largest fundraiser. For example, she said, Saturday morning breakfast usually brings in about $2,000 in sales. This year, because fewer people camped out at the park Friday night, breakfast only brought in about $800. Much of the money raised by the group goes to local fire departments and emergency crews, along with assistance to needy residents.

Aaron Theis came up from Virginia Beach and camped out at the park Friday night. Saturday morning, he inflated a rubber raft and said he wanted to try going down the river on something other than a canoe or inner tube. Theis said he had been coming to Fun Float Day for several years to enjoy the float and party, but with the police presence, “a little of the fun has been taken away.”

While many floaters were upset with the crackdown, Campbell County deputy Scott Helmintoller said Saturday morning the day was “the nicest fun float I can remember.”

“When this started, it was a family event,” he said. “Now it seems like it’s coming back to that.”

Schmidt said the sheriff’s office wrote five citations on Friday for possession of alcohol in a county park.

Schmidt said Department of Game and Inland Fisheries personnel wrote six citations on Saturday for boating safety equipment violations.

Linda Jones and Anne Rexrode said they always enjoyed coming out to float day to look for the boat decorations and watch the rowdiness that would happen along the river. Traditionally, floaters would hang out at one of two popular spots — Fishtrap Falls or Cat Rock — and cheer on others as they would flush down the rapids, often spilling into the river. “There’s nobody out there but the game warden,” Jones said.

They both said they felt the police presence on the river was intrusive with a helicopter flying up and down the river. “It was like, leave us alone,” Jones said. “I think they overreacted,” Rexrode added.

Jones said she feared the crackdown and poor turnout this year could doom the event next year.

“We had a good time, but it’s just not what it was by any means,” she said.