Kickoff for the tour began Friday evening April 19th at the tour hotel, Hampton Inn Defiance, with a slide preview presentation of the tour canal path that included maps and photos of the sites to be visited on Saturday and Sunday, along with some period photos and recent images of present but inaccessible sites. Copies of the preview slides on a USB drive were given to all tour participants.

First stop for Saturday's tour was at the Auglaize Village Historical Park featuring many historic buildings and railroad relics. A surprise bonus was on hand in the form of a troop of World War II reenactors encamped on the grounds of the park.

The tour continued on to Junction, Ohio where the joining of the Wabash & Erie and the Miami & Erie Canals had become one canal on the route to Toledo, Ohio. We then began to follow the canal path from Junction through the City of Defiance to the Maumee River where the northern bank of that body of water was used as the towpath and the river itself became an integral part of the canal system until reaching Independence Dam, Ohio. Numerous remaining canal structures were viewed along the way and lunch was enjoyed at the MaverickSmokehouse in Defiance. After lunch, we paid a visit to the Tuttle Museum in downtown Defiance where a great deal of local history has been preserved. The days tour ended with a towpath hike at the Independence Dam Park and inspection of the remaining guard/lift lock 40 which was the gateway from the river into the canal channel.

Saturday evening, we enjoyed an exceptionally fine banquet dinner at Defiance College followed by a very interesting presentation of the legalities pertaining to canal lands ownership disputes with the State of Ohio by our Trustee,Mr. Chuck Collins.​ CSO President, Mike Morthorst, then presented a plaque to retiring Trustee, Ron Petrie, in appreciation of his many years of dedication and service on the CSO Board of Trustees. Many, many thanks Ron, for all you have done previously, and a great job on this tour!!

The tour concluded with a Sunday morning canal boat ride through Lock 44 and tour of the Ludwig Mill within the Providence Metro Park near Grand Rapids, Ohio. Entertainment and history was provided by our Guide, Mr. Russ Franzen who's music can be heard while viewing this page. (A gallery of photos taken during the tour have been displayed below for your enjoyment)