Rivertownes, an organization representing Columbia, Wrightsville and Marietta, sponsored the reenactment of events 140 years ago. They called it "Flames Across the Susquehanna.''

The evening's major activity involved igniting piles of firewood on each of the piers remaining from the covered bridge Union forces burned on June 28, 1863, to keep Confederate soldiers from crossing into Lancaster County. The lighting began at 8 p.m. and concluded after 10, when the fires extended for more than a mile between Wrightsville and Columbia.

Meanwhile, Confederate reenactors fired cannons toward the bridge from the Wrightsville side. Event sponsors played period music from large speakers in the middle of the Route 462 bridge, just downstream from the burned span. Independent parties set off fireworks upstream and downstream.

The extraordinary display entertained thousands of spectators who lined the 462 bridge and stood dozens of ranks deep along both banks of the river.

But the best view was from the water, where scores of boats -- motorboats, pontoons, canoes, kayaks -- floated in a manageable current just upstream from the burning piers.

The Scribblers kayaked down from Accomac, on the Susquehanna's York County shore. We enjoyed a balmy night, the crackling pier fires, cannon fire echoing along the 462 bridge arches, and "Aura Lee'' and "Garry Owen'' blaring from the loudspeakers and resounding on the water.

Music was crucial to the atmosphere. Not only did its continuous playing enhance the sense of being transported to another time, but the old tunes drowned out motorboat boom-box racket that otherwise would have destroyed the show.

Thoreau said viewing the earth from the water provides an extra kick to life. He said, "I vastly increase my sphere and experience by a boat.'' Those of us anchored or languidly paddling in the Susquehanna during the festivities appreciated just such an otherworldly impression of this event.

Rivertownes should build on that feeling. It's the best thing the old river towns have going for them.

Historically, the Susquehanna has been these villages' most vital element. It has provided drinking water, a place to dump sewage, a source of water for industry and a rich fishing resource. Massive amounts of lumber and thousands of rafts loaded with agricultural products landed here or passed by on the river and adjacent canal.

But Columbia, Wrightsville and Marietta declined in the 20th century and have not responded to recent efforts to revitalize the region. What happened Saturday night should provide a catalyst for success.

Water is the key. Successful river towns use their water in multifaceted ways. They create parks along it and on islands in it. They encourage entrepreneurs to build restaurants and ballparks and other entertaining places near it. And they encourage boaters and anglers to recreate in it.

Consider Harrisburg. Attractions at Riverfront Park and on City Island beckon visitors from a wide region. The riverboat Pride of the Susquehanna cruises regularly. The Harrisburg Symphony plays concerts on a river barge. Holiday festivals and fireworks are staged by the river. Several blocks of restaurants and nightclubs have flourished recently on Second Street, as close as they can get to the water.

Consider York. Codorus Creek in York is hardly the Susquehanna at Harrisburg; but thanks to a bicycle trail and a relatively new cluster of restaurants and bars, that city also boasts an attractive entertainment center along and near the water.

Lancaster has nothing similar -- and wasted its one opportunity to use the Conestoga River as a community revitalization resource when it covered the crucial part of the Sunnyside Peninsula with a palatial prison for bad boys.

Columbia and Wrightsville may never be able to use their waterfront to the extent Harrisburg has; but they can do much more than they have so far.

They are beginning. Columbia is improving its riverfront park and plans a seven-acre linear greenway along the Susquehanna. Wrightsville wants to restore old limekilns along the river. Rivertownes is promoting restoration of remnants of the riverside iron furnaces between Marietta and Columbia.

Now the towns need to focus on the river itself. Get people canoeing and kayaking on a new river trail down the Susquehanna. Stage a lively concert from a barge. Sponsor small boat tours and safe-boating education amid riffles between Marietta and Columbia, Accomac and Wrightsville.

Rivertownes and all of these towns can build on the spectacular success of June 28 by promoting the river as well as the riverfront. Water is for fishing and power boating, yes; but it's also for playing around in gas- and oil- and noise-free kayaks and canoes, enjoying the scenery from Chickies Rock to Turkey Hill at a more leisurely pace.

When water places become people places, all the rest follows on shore: restaurants and nightclubs and other entertainment. Our old river towns could revitalize themselves by making the Susquehanna and its shores more inviting and entertaining.

These towns need to project some of the spirit of last Saturday night every Saturday night.

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The Scribbler:jbrubaker@lnpnews.com.


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