Harvesting Wonderful Partnerships!

At this time of year there's so much to be grateful for in our homes and communities. I would like to thank the many individuals and agencies that helped support the Montezuma Heritage Park project.  First of all I'd like to extend a very warm thanks to the Park Design Committee. This group has remained committed spending hours of their time in multiple ways. Also, thank you to the many residents and businesses that have supported our fundraising efforts. Then, there are so many wonderful agencies that helped support the park project  including Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cayuga Community College, Cayuga County Planning, SUNY-ESF  Center of Community Design Research,  NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Creating Healthy Places to Live, Work & Play Grant (funded by the NYSDOH), Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, The Pomeroy Foundation, Cayuga Community Foundation, Mural Mania and Forever Wild for Everyone Programs.
Now we can add to our list the assistance awarded from Parks and Trails, New York and again this year, the National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Program for their support.  PTNY Healthy Trails, Healthy People program will be helping us to enrich the quality of life by connecting to multi-use trails in a natural, cultural and historical park setting.  RTCA shares the benefits of the National Park System to help us further identify and accomplish our goals.

Through collaboratively working with these agencies, we will look forward to the coming year strengthening our vision, building constituencies and local support critical to long term success for the park. Easily accessible, close to home, multi-use trails will enhance opportunities for recreation, health and fitness, education and economic improvement, while focusing on areas of natural beauty and historic significance.

We hope you can join us this weekend for the Zumba-thon to benefit the Mural fund for the park. Many thanks to Kristen Decker and teachers from  Stepping Stone Fitness Center and Roy Wilson and his DJ Service for hosting this event.  Area businesses have been generous, and we have some great raffle donations waiting to be claimed if you're the lucky one! Come Zumba, or just watch and enjoy the music! We appreciate your support! It's being held Sunday, November 27, 2011, at the Town Hall, 8102 Dock Street off Route 90 in Montezuma from 1 PM - 4 PM. 

With partners like this, I'm confident the end result will be a park that enriches our lives with recreation, health, fitness, education and economic improvement!

We're One Step Closer to Closing the Gap!

 Thanks, Cayuga Community Fund

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THE PRESERVATION OF HISTORY THROUGH COMMUNITY ART -- Help Close the Gap

I read an article that I saved from the 2010 September/October issue of Talk of the Towns which I recently revisited. It's a reprint from the Planning Commissioners Journal about considering art as a part of community planning. The article by Ric Stephens says that public art is rarely included in planning because art doesn't match the traditional approach to planning.  Planners often ignore art because it cannot be quantified. It implies emotion and subjectivity, and we believe planning must be rational and objective.

The article goes on to explain it's a complex subject when considering art in the community's planning processes, yet there's evidence when measured in terms of increased property values, public participation, visitor and resident satisfaction, it adds real value to yielding a vital community. Signage for example can go beyond basic way-finding to help with the community's identity and sense of place.  Another example of art are the murals seen in towns and cities across the country that have become a cherished part of the civic landscape. They are visual products of a powerful collaborative grassroots process in communities, and a great source of inspiration to residents and visitors. The mural-making process gives communities a voice to tell their individual and collective stories, a way to pass on culture and tradition.

Mark DeCracker of Lyons has worked to bring a dream of a friend, Noel Dobbins a reality. Noel's dream was of having 50 miles of murals along the Erie Canal.  Noel's vision was just underway when he died in October of 2007. Mark has gone on to inspire and help communities along the Erie Canal corridor to plan mural projects.

Montezuma is the only canal town between Macedon and Syracuse that doesn't have a mural. The Montezuma Historical Society is working to Close the Gap, and put Montezuma on the map of murals across the state.  As part of fund raising for the project, the Society is offering a chance to win two 2012 season tickets for a Dinner Cruise at the Camillus Erie Canal Park.

Please help us close the gap!