Special to The Citizen

JORDAN - Visitors stepped foot onto dry land a little after noon in Jordan Saturday, when after a rainy start, the second annual Erie Canal Celebration sailed into sunshine.

Off came plastic sheets from tables of yard sale items, and even the snakes on Main Street were happy -along with the iguana.

“He didn't quite like the rain; he likes the sun much better,” said Tammy Dix, of Max Man Reptile Rescue. Othello, the red tail boa constrictor, was endlessly winding himself from her neck to knees like a long cheese curl. She, and fellow reptile rescuer Stephanie Heppler, who had a green iguana nonchalantly resting on her shoulder, agreed that when it came to petting their guests, the children who came upon their booth were a lot braver than the adults.

“They actually would try to rip them off you if you let them,” said Dix, of the children.

The function of the reptile rescuers is to board homeless exotic animals, they explained.

Recently, Heppler brought a group of eight snakes into the shelter from a gentleman's house. Why?

“He decided he didn't want them anymore,” said Heppler.

While it is debatable whether boas or iguanas were there in Jordan during the heydays of the Erie Canal.

What was unquestionably present were the pottery items Bill Bower, member of the Jordan Historical Society and a collector of antique pottery, had at his booth down the street - items from Jordan Stoneware Factory.

“They're stoneware pottery, which means they were fired at 2,200 degrees, twice. The second time they would throw salt in the kiln, and the salt would evaporate and create that nice glaze,” Bower said.

It was a technique that came up the Erie Canal from New York City. Indeed, the canal was responsible for creating the Jordan pottery manufacturing business in 1826 - and destroying it in 1866, Bower said.

“The Erie Canal started the company. Amboy clay was brought in from New Jersey, and they mixed it with local clay,” he explained. “All of a sudden, a company in Lyons became really big: they had 13 people working.

They also had three canal boats.

They made so many (pots) and they sold them cheaper.”

Overhearing the conversation was Nancy Robinson, of Elbridge, who had just sold a Jordan pot in an estate sale for over $300 - half of what it was worth, Bower told her.

“We didn't know it was worth so much,” said her sister, Sue Hartwell, also of Elbridge.

Undaunted, the sisters were still having a great time at the celebration

“We had our umbrellas out at first, but now it's nice,” said Robinson. “I bought my granddaughter a music box.”

Such was the nature of the celebration: part entertainment, part retail.

The idea to add an historical celebration to the annual Village Wide Yard Sale began last year.

“The whole concept was to bring attention to the village of Jordan, and hopefully bring more business,” said volunteer Maureen Doyle. “But the No. 1 thing is to have fun.”

That was achieved by such attractions as a trolley car ride and tours of past historical sites, including the lock tender's house at lock 51 - the only one of its kind still in existence along the 540 miles of canal in New York state, Doyle noted.

Meanwhile, through rain and shine, the Erie Canal Cloggers danced inside the Christ Episcopal Church.

“They used to clog right on the Erie Canal boats,” said director and founder Dale Burl.