Cruisin’ Canyon Lake Getaway Weekend

Cruisin’Canyon Lake Getaway Weekend, a fun, diverse, and exciting three-day community event that debuted last year, is being reprised here next month and will have activities to choose from that include a party, dance, hikes, arts-and-crafts sessions, gardening classes, golf, kayaking, fishing, and more. It is being organized by the Pilot Club of Canyon Lake in cooperation with two other local entities and will run Friday through Sunday, September 29 – October 1.

“This really is a community-focused event,” said Diane Schaule, a member of the Pilot Club and one of the organizers. “We’ve partnered with the Friends of the TyePreston Memorial Library and with the CRRC, for use of their facilities and for volunteers.” Organizers are also encouraging people to invite their out-of-town friends to come out to the lake and participate in the weekend event.

“Our Saturday night dance, which is really the highlight of the event, is going to be held at the rec center,” Schaule said, and will include music by the Grateful Geezers, a popular Houston-based band that specializes in songs from the ’50s through ’80s. “We want the whole community to join us for the Saturday night dance,” even if they are not registered for other weekend events.

More than a dozen events will be offered as part of the three-day program and most range in cost from $7 to $40. One is free, a Friday night welcome party at Tye Preston Memorial Library for people who have registered for weekend events that will include games and displays of creations by local artisans. Other activities will be held at locations throughout Canyon Lake, to include the Community Center building behind the CRRC Rec Center, and at the Lions Pavilion next door to it. Proceeds from the second-annual fundraiser will be split equally between the three partner organizations and used to support their activities (and amounted to about $2,000 each last year).

Activities participants can choose from include a walk/run at Canyon Lake Dam; a three-hour guided tour through Canyon Gorge (shown below); an “Adult Mud Pies” class where people can make pots and then have them glazed and fired; a Battenburg Cake-making class; a session on successfully growing orchids; a walk along the Guadalupe River that includes a box lunch; a luncheon at the library; a silk scarf-painting class; the “Sconehenge” scone-making class; an afternoon high tea; and a “sip and paint” class that is being run by two local artists.

“They’re going to take some wine glasses and paint on them and drink wine too,” said the Pilot Club’s Anna Burdick, who is also helping to organize the upcoming event.

Lakeside Country Club is also offering tee times on Saturday for participants in the weekend event. Participants in the weekend program can also sign up to go kayaking on the Guadalupe River or to take fly-fishing lessons, both through the Rio Guadalupe Resort, on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

“We used last year’s experience to develop this year’s events, what worked and what didn’t,” Schaule said, in putting together the itinerary for the weekend, and that certainly shows in the variety of fun things she and her colleagues have planned.

Registration for the Cruisin’ Canyon Lake Getaway Weekend is open now and you can reserve limited spots in its great events and create a personal itinerary for yourself now by going to www.cruisincanyonlake.com. You cans also get updates for the event and a chance to win free passes to it on its “Cruisin’ Canyon Lake” Facebook page. Check-in for the event will be at Overlook Park off of South Access Road and run from 2–5 p.m. on Friday and from 8–11 a.m. on Saturday.