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Four new batteaux will float in this year’s James River Batteau Festival.
Buddy High takes it as a good sign.
The four new boats — including one with a crew new to batteaux and the festival — bring the total number of batteaux to 18.
“(The total number has) been down as low as 11, I think, and we’ve been as high as 24,” said High, a resident of Valentines and chairman of the festival. He said he hopes the trend continues to move upward.
The festival, in which a flotilla of the flat-bottomed vessels float from Lynchburg to Richmond just as their predecessors did during the 18th century, has attracted attention far and wide. High said the festival received an e-mail inquiring about batteaux from Australia this year.
While the festival has drawn attention to local and state history, it has also sharpened focus on the river itself.
High said that during the 15 years he has been involved, he’s seen the river getting cleaner and cleaner.
“I would like to think the batteau festival has a big part in promoting that,” he said. For instance, not long ago participants pulled 8 tons of tires out of the river.
“What we’re trying to do is bring awareness to that river,” High said. “Well, to all rivers.”
After all, he said, without water, there could be no life.
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