Renea Salyer, Syracuse

by Lauren Caggiano Good Deeds Nominee: Renea Salyer Hometown: Warsaw The Deed:

Renea Salyer is giving an ordinary item new life as a public art attraction. The executive director of the Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber of Commerce is the organizational brains behind the ‘Red Canoe Project.’ These canoes-turned-flower-planters bring cheer and nostalgia to the sites, as they serve to honor loved ones in the community, and/or are presented as memorials to honor deceased friends and family.

The project began last year (2020) with the first canoe placed at the south side of town, at the ‘Syracuse’ sign designed by Roxann Arnott (on SR 13). The canoe is in memory of Arnott’s dear friend, Annie Laurie Hardie. The Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber's foundation arm, the SWCC Foundation, was in the beginning stages of planning beautification projects for the Town of Syracuse, and reached out to Roxann to partner in creating more red canoe planters.

In 2020, six canoes were donated by local residents and painted by volunteers. Then, they were placed throughout town.

Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber created a map in their 2021 directory of the locations of the canoes. Folks can go hunt for them and share pictures on their social media.

This year, we will place canoes 7 through 11, and hope to end with at least 12 canoes in the community.

Canoes will be filled with various seasonal plants and flowers that will change throughout the year.

Anyone interested in making a donation to the project or sponsoring a canoe in memory or honor of a loved one is invited to call the Chamber at 574.457.5637, or email renea@swchamber.com.

Do YOU want to nominate someone for a good deed? It’s easy. Just email Sue at sue@lakelifemagazine.com. She’ll take care of the rest!