SAVING OUR VANISHING HERITAGE

Photo of the Richmond Aqueduct by Dennis Stierer, Lockport, NY

How we as small communities act—or fail to act— in the coming years will determine if we save our heritage, and realize the untapped economic opportunities our heritage and the sites it represents serves our communities. Saving Our Vanishing Heritage is a critical call to action to alert our communities that we need to focus precious investment of time, creativity, and funds on heritage conservation, a strategy that has proven to be one of the most effective and targeted ways to help communities thrive. 

If heritage defines our culture and tells us who we are, why is it so often ignored in our communities or considered of little importance? Why is it that our historic sites and landmarks that represent our common past are given no significant attention, investment or interest when it comes to preservation? Why is it not being seen as an opportunity to satisfy an emotional need that would give us a connection to the place we live and the potential to enhance our lives. Wouldn’t it follow that when our lives are enhanced our community would appear less depressed and experienced as a healthier and more stable place to live. 

Imagine if the Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore —the very symbols of the American nation—were damaged and destroyed through neglect or mismanagement. Loss and destruction is the status quo for many of our most significant national treasures that helped form our country are being ignored in our smaller rural communities, but no less significant. Over time our cultural and historic sites have been damaged and ignored of their importance. Much of this loss can be controlled through better planning, community involvement, and management, but these are often missing in smaller communities where the need is the greatest. Often we see our small towns and villages as insignificant with no ability to do anything about it blaming it on lack of manpower and money so we lapse into a powerless, conditioned pattern of thought that it’s useless to even try.  What we are giving up on is our duty and responsibility and the power we have to preserve our heritage for future generations. We are giving up on our greatest asset – our human potential to make a difference and serve our communities with our inherited gifts and abilities. We need to wake up to these abilities and find creative ways to come together on how to accomplish this. We need to let our elected officials know that we care and that we are here to use our skills and creative ideas to support and lend a hand to preserve what is important to us.

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!

CANAL SPLASH FOLLOWING THE FLOW TOURS - AUGUST 13TH

A series of events are planned in connection with state sponsored Canal Splash weekend in Cayuga County.  The second annual historic canal site driving and walking tour called, Following the Flow: The Tale of Two Erie Canals is sponsored by Old Brutus Historical Society,  Port Byron Lock 52 Historical Society and the Montezuma Historical Society.  Mike Riley, canal historian, will weave in interesting local history and canal stories to make the connections between man and river, ecology and geology, early explorers, settlers, industry and the evolution of New York’s canal system through Cayuga County.
For more information about canal history in Cayuga County go to:
http://www.cayugacountycanalhistory.org/

AUGUST 13TH SCHEDULE OF TOURS:

• 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM -- WEEDSPORT: Ongoing tours will be held at the Old Brutus Historical Museum in Weedsport, 8943 North Seneca Street featuring Erie Canal displays and heritage 
• 11:00 AM -- WEEDSPORT/JORDAN on Route 31 at the site of the former Lock 51
• 12:30 PM -- PORT BYRON at  St. John’s Church parking lot, Route 31, West
• 1:30 PM -- MONTEZUMA walking tour starts at the Heritage Park Byron Lapp Memorial Trailhead near the firehouse off Route 90.

MONTEZUMA COMMUNITY PICNIC & VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION

 VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR:  MARIAN ELLINWOOD

The Town of Montezuma will continue the celebration by honoring a community volunteer  created to recognize an individual who has unselfishly given to the community. This year’s award will be given to town resident, Marian Ellinwood. Marian has given countless hours and many years service to the community including serving as election officer for thirty-five years, and twenty years on the town planning board. She has helped many people preparing income taxes without expecting payment. For the last several years Marian and her husband, Don have devoted their life to daily visiting and caring for their son, Ricky who has been hospitalized in Rochester and Newark hospitals. In spite of the long days at the hospital, Marian faithfully continues to attend monthly planning board meetings.

•  4:00 PM at the Memorial Park pavilion,  Dock Street. Bring a dish to pass, table service and beverage. Meat and rolls will be provided. 
•  6:00 PM at the town hall, there will be a 1953 movie version of “A Farmer Takes a Wife,” starring Betty Grable and Dale Robertson. The movie was based on Walter Edmond’s novel "Rome Haul, " and is a tale of love and conflict along the Erie Canal in the mid 19^th century. 

Good News for our Neighbors to the East

The Canal Society of New York has received some really exciting news.  This is a project some had long ago given up on, but the Society didn't throw in the towel and fifteen years later it looks like it's going to pay off. The New York State Thruway Authority has announced it will partner with the Society to become a major sponsor of the Port Byron Erie Canal Heritage Park Project which now raises the hope the dream will become a reality.

Founded in Buffalo on October13, 1956, the Canal Society is a not-for-profit educational organization that enables people to visit canal sites in New York State and beyond through regular, organized field trips, to share information and ideas about preserving canal history and traditions, and to advocate for canal renewal and development.

Peter Van Detto built the Erie House in the early 1890's. After the Erie Canal closed in Port Byron in 1917, the Erie House was abandoned as a tavern and hotel and became a family residence for the Van Detto's. It remained in the family for more than 70 years. His daughters Theresa and Marie served as teachers at the local schools for many years. Peter also ran a similar tavern near the trolley at Stop 69 in Montezuma. 

The Society's vision is to create  a canal history destination alongside the New York State Thruway in Port Byron.  Within the former canal-side village in Central New York is the well-preserved and very visible Lock 52, a nearby canal prism and dry dock, the Erie House -- which served as a canal-era tavern and boarding house -- a mule barn and a blacksmith shop.

When completed, the site will provide a new and important cultural visitor facility interpreting New York State canal heritage with particular emphasis on America’s most famous canal, the Erie Canal. Because the site will be accessible from the Thruway, the Heritage Park will educate many people who might not normally come alongside a canal. In addition, the project will serve as a point of orientation and introduction to travelers on the New York State Thruway to canal destinations and attractions in other communities across New York State including it's neighbor to the west.

Congratulations Canal Society!  And, kuddos to the New York State Thruway Authority for recognizing the potential this project offers for all of us in New York State. 

What Does Apple Pie, Church and the Erie Canal Have in Common????

Historic Mentz Church, Montezuma, NY (Circa 1825)

I came across an interesting article about a 1968 Canal Society of New York group tour of the historic canal sites in Port Byron and Montezuma. This organization is dedicated to keeping canal heritage alive, and plans are that Port Byron will house its large collection of canal history at the Port Byron Erie House complex once completed. According to the article written by Betty Auten for the Geneva Times," this  is no small job because progress demands that the old must give way to the new."  I guess that's true, but sometimes those  "old ways" are worth carrying on.  The following legend was shared in the Geneva Times  article:
 

At 11 a.m., the sightseers left by way of Route 31 for Montezuma. About a quarter of a mile east of the village, the motorcade of 39 cars stopped to see the remnants of the Crane Brook Aqueduct. The prism of Clinton's Ditch curves as it crosses the Thruway and approaches this area; legend has it that this area was called Apple Pie Bend. Whenever the gate-keeper's wife heard a boat approaching in the distance, she would pop an apple pie into the oven so by the time the boat arrived, the men could have a tasty treat.

 This reminds me of a story I heard today about three riders on the "Cycling the Erie Canalway bike ride. These gentlemen seen the sign on Route 31 for the Historic Mentz Church, and decided to take a side trip to check it out.  They stopped and asked Paul Baker how much farther to the church. Paul showed them it was "just up the road a-piece" and asked if they would like to see the inside. So Paul dropped what he was doing in this garden, and gave them the grand tour.  I can only imagine that Paul's wife, Bunny could have been the gate-keeper's wife.  I can see her making apple pie and greeting the travelers along the Canal.  

Paul & Bunny Baker -- Good Ambassadors for our Community

So this was the impression our visitors had as they passed through our town, whether by boat or bike, we can still appreciate those that share their time for others passing through town. Would you want to come back -- I sure would!

Cycling Along the Erie Canal -- Welcome to Montezuma

The Montezuma Historical Society will be set up near the post office Wednesday, July 13th to welcome and cheer the bikers traveling through Montezuma on their way across the state for the 13th Cycling the Erie Canal tour. About 500 will be passing through on their trip that started in Buffalo on Sunday traveling across the state reaching Albany on Sunday.  The bikers were scheduled to be in Seneca Falls today and will be riding through Montezuma tomorrow with a scheduled rest stop in Port Byron at the Middle School.

2011 FOLLOWING THE FLOW CANAL SPLASH TOUR - AUGUST 13TH

Mike Riley has posted the schedule for this year's Following the Flow Canal Splash Tour. For information and updates visit: http://canalsplash.blogspot.com. This is a joint program sponsored by the historical societies of Weedsport, Port Byron and Montezuma.

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!

SPOTTED TODAY IN MONTEZUMA....

Were they bald eagles, were they cranes, 

or was it the Easter Bunny? 

No....they were volunteer stewards doing service for our community in celebration of Earth Day. 

The second Clean Sweep event sponsored this week by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County worked on the other end of the towpath trail today in Heritage Park. Twenty-five volunteers with boy cub scouts and girl scouts, and American Heritage Girls traveling from Bloomfield came out to help with the clean up in Heritage Park.  Working on badges for "Care for My Environment" and "Leave No Trace," they were practicing being good stewards of our environment.

These groups and the leaders are dedicated to helping youth build integrity through service.  Thanks to Amy Barra, Environmental Educator at CCE for coordinating the event.

and to everyone -- THANKS -- GREAT JOB!

2011 Clean Sweep Brave Volunteer Ducks & A Goose

Duck, Duck...Goose

"Hey, Paul how's it going?" JUST DUCKY!

Great Job! Leland, Mary and & Katherine Sumner

SWEEPING IN THE RAIN!

For any brave ducks that want to come to the Montezuma clean up site north of the firehouse today, we're still on.  MHS will have coffee and donuts at the firehouse. For those of you who would prefer to stay high and dry -- you lose no points.  Thanks for wanting to be there!  Next week Cornell Cooperative Extension will be out to help out and you're welcome to join them.

UPDATE:

Over twenty brave volunteer ducks showed up from Montezuma as well as some good neighbors from Conquest and Port Byron.  Great job everyone! We ran out of bags, plus several wagon loads that went in a dumpster. 

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO SHOW PRIDE IN OUR COMMUNITY -- LET'S DO OUR PART FOR A BILLION ACTS OF GREEN

It's been a long winter here in Central New York. I think we all are more than ready to welcome Spring and appreciate the warmer weather. Sadly, one of the first signs of Spring is the garbage and debris we see along the highways, parks and trails as the melted snow reveals what has collected over the winter. One way to celebrate Spring and honor Mother Earth is by volunteering to help clean our parks and trails through a multi-community event sponsored in connection with the New York State Canal Corporation, Parks & Trails New York, and the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation.

The Town of Montezuma is planning its second year of participation in the New York State Canal Clean Sweep program to organize clean-up activities on canal historic sites within the Heritage Park area.  The clean up day will be held on Saturday, April 16, 2011. Plans are to meet at the at 9:00 AM at the parking area on Erie Street, off Route 90 near the fire house.  Volunteers are encouraged to bring their own gloves and supplies, and to wear comfortable clothing and shoes.
 
Robin Dropkin, executive director of Parks and Trails New York, said, “The growth of the Canal Clean Sweep in recent years clearly shows that local pride in the Canal and the Canalway Trail is high and the spirit of volunteerism is flourishing across the state. Especially in such challenging economic times, the canal system and Canalway Trail, which are growing in prominence as a world-class tourism destination, become even more important as close-to-home recreational resources for local residents and all New Yorkers. We are pleased to again join community groups and citizens in cleaning up the canal corridor in advance of the summer season.”

Site near the towpath and main trail leading to Heritage Park.

This event also coincides with the celebration of Earth Day on April 22,  which began in 1970 launching the modern environmental movement. The Earth Day Network encourages Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. In recognition of the power of millions of individual actions, Earth Day 2011 has initiated a campaign to inspire and reward commitments both small and large to better sustain and support our environment. The goal is to register one billion actions in advance of the Earth Summit in Rio in 2012.  A Billion Acts of Green® website quantifies acts of green through an easy-to-use online registration tool at:    http://act.earthday.org/.  

Unfortunately, we can't always stop this kind of illegal dumping, but we can help by being the change we want to see in others. Through our efforts in participating we can take pride knowing we are doing are part with cleanup and beautification activities on April 16th that will help the environment and protect the beauty of our historic canal and natural resources for years to come. Come enjoy the great outdoors and join the Clean Up!

NEW LOCAL CANAL HISTORY SITE LAUNCHED

Through unexpected funding from the Canal Corporation, the historical societies of Weedsport, Port Byron and Montezuma were able to have a new website designed that highlights the history of the canals in Cayuga County.  Mike Riley worked with web designer Adams Sweet of Sweet Designs to build the site. Check out the interactive map that leads to additional information and photos in each town. There are plenty of links to other resources and an events calendar in the works as well as other content that will be added.

Plans will be to build on the site to offer more material that will be especially useful to local teachers.

http://cayugacountycanalhistory.org/

DESIGN COMMITTEE MEETING INVITATION

There will be a Heritage Park Design Committee meeting on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 7 PM at the Montezuma Town Hall. Some of the topics we will be discussing are reviewing final designs ideas presented by the SUNY ESF students, signage, planning for the Canal Sweep clean up, upcoming programs for the year. At our last meeting we decided to make the last Thursday of the month our regular monthly scheduled meeting. This is an open invitation to join our committee, whether it's for one meeting or on a regular basis.

MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT - SUNY ESF PARK DESIGN PROJECT

The follow up meeting that had to be postponed in December for SUNY-ESF students to return with their final design ideas for the Montezuma Heritage Park has been rescheduled:

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2011 @ 6:30 PM

Montezuma Town Hall

Dock Street, Montezuma

Unfortunately, we are not expecting  any of the students who worked on the project will be able to attend as they have moved onto to their next semester projects .

SUNY- ESF staff, Maren King and Cheryl Doble will share the results of the student's projects with us. 

Please pass the word on to other community members.  We need community input. 

Following the Feb 8th meeting, the Design Committee will be reviewing the ESF students projects and begin to develop a plan that will work for our community.  We will be taking into consideration all ideas and any concerns of the community.

Historic sites added to Parkland

Two important parcels of property have been recently acquired by the Town of Montezuma that will be included with Heritage Park project. They are significant historic sites that tell the story of the town's Erie Canal history.


Cayuga County transferred a 23-acre parcel of land west of the former Cayuga-Seneca Canal and along the south side of the former Erie Canal. The parcel is the site of the former Meil's Drydock which was first started by William Thorn and Joshua Martin in 1860.  The drydock provided a valuable service to canal business where boats were built, refurbished and repaired. The buildings in the background of the photograph above would have provided the necessary space for a  blacksmith to fashion the metal parts, bolts and nails; a saw mill to cut beams and planks, and for offices and storehouses.  Later in 1894 the business was purchased by George Meil of Veronia, NY.  Fifteen men were employed to repair boats,  build steamers and flag boats for use in the harvest of flag (cattails) in the swamps.

The other important piece of property purchased by the town is north of the present-day firehouse and at the entrance to the main trail head and former towpath of the Erie Canal. The Exchange Hotel in the photograph to the right was located here. It also had a stable to hold extra teams for the line boat compaines. Town Board meetings and elections were once held here. Built circa 1830, it burned to the ground on June 23, 1918, one of the oldest hotels in the village and on the Erie Canal.


This important site is near where the Cayuga section of the Cayuga-Seneca Canal opened in 1828 connecting with the Erie Canal. A crossover bridge allowed the mules and crews to move from the path along the Erie Canal to the Cayuga Canal. This was an important junction where boats headed either east to Albany or west to Buffalo as well as south to Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. 

Trail Blazing!

Well, maybe December is not such a good time for trail blazing, but I thought I would feature a slide show of an event last Spring.  A great group of volunteers came out to participate in the Town of Montezuma sponsored Clean Sweep program to pick up trash, trim trail hedges, chip, and mulch on the Heritage Park site. Looking ahead to 2011, plans are already underway to do it again. 

Since this is the time of year to reflect back, I've been doing some research on the history of park plans in Montezuma that goes back 45 years ago to December 1965. Not to give away my age, but that was the year I graduated from high school. David Butler was the Town Supervisor who applied for funding to acquire the parkland made possible through the  Outdoor Recreation Development Bond Act and the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965.  Byron Lapp was elected the next supervisor who carried out the long process of completing the acquisition of parkland eventually in 1971.  

As we look forward to envisioning plans for the park this coming year, we can appreciate the many years it took to complete this work. Through Byron's perseverance, we can be thankful the land has been preserved for public use and preservation of the great historic sites it holds. 

Also, if you are starting to get the Cabin Fever Blues, Mike Riley has some great suggestions for getting out and enjoying the winter here in Cayuga County that were a part of last year's Canal Splash, Flowing the Flow: The Tale of Two Erie Canals. 

http://canalsplash.blogspot.com

Wishing you a never-ending season of joy and peace. 

ESF Students to Present Park Designs on November 1

The public is invited to welcome landscape architecture students from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry on Monday evening, November 1, 2010 at 6:30 PM at the Montezuma Town Hall.  The students will share their visions for the proposed development of 140 acres of town-owned parkland with historic and natural resources in the Town of Montezuma. 

On October 1, 2010, forty-three ESF students and college staff made a preliminary visit to tour the park site followed by a meeting with design committee  members at the town hall for the purpose of developing design ideas for the Heritage Park. The design process was initiated by Supervisor John Malenick, a graduate of the ESF collage. He contacted ESF's Center for Community Design Research to request design assistance from landscape architecture faculty and students to help prepare design studies.  He realized that the time had come to look at the potential the parkland held economically and recreational for the community.  

It was important to the supervisor that community members be involved in the park design process from the very early stages, and he requested in February 2010 the town board appoint a design committee and encouraged interested residents to become involved. The primary goal for the design committee working with the students was to look for ways to approach the park development based on an understanding of community values and needs, as well as an analysis of park site conditions and Erie Canal history to use as the basis of dialogue with the broader community. Academically, the primary goals were to provide an opportunity for design students to learn and practice skills of engaging community members in the design process, to understand the important roles that community members have in creating place-appropriate designs, and to apply emerging design and graphic skills on a project that would benefit our community.

It is anticipated that the collaboration between the landscape architecture students and the Town of Montezuma community will produce a series of useful outcomes, including site analysis and inventory, preliminary lists of activities and program, and alternative design ideas around which to base in-depth design proposals.  Most importantly, it is the intent of the Design Committee that this will begin the process of additional involvement within the  community members and encourage dialogue and participation to encourage development and pride in the community.

Come and see what the students have designed. Community members will have an opportunity to offer suggestions on their designs ideas and the students will return with the final project in a few weeks. This is the beginning of a community dialogue to have input on the development of the park. 

Montezuma's Canal History: Where it All Began

Both photos are located on the west side of Route 90 

near the present-day firehouse. 

This is the site of the junction of the Erie and Cayuga-Seneca Canals. 

The Exchange Hotel in the older picture burned in 1917. The abutement 

from the crossover bridge 

still remains today near the entrance of the trail

 leading into the proposed Montezuma Heritage Park

On August 14, 2010, the Montezuma Historical Society joined with the Old Brutus Historical Society and Lock 52 Historical Society to offer a combined historic site canal tour in Cayuga County.  Representatives from Jordan also joined us to begin the tour at the Jordan/Weedsport line at the site of Lock 51.  Both guided and self-guided tours were scheduled for the day. Mike Riley, Canal Historian lead the guided tours with five stops between Jordan and Montezuma. 

The event was part of the statewide 5th Annual Canal Splash of locally organized events to celebrate the history, recreational appeal and beauty of the New York Canal System and Erie Canalway Trail.  Folks got to visit many of the sites starting at the trail head pictured here that will be featured in the Heritage Park, including the magnificent Richmond Aqueduct pictured in our blog heading. 

For more information, including downloads on the historic sites in Cayuga County visit the Canal Splash blog which will continue to be updated with new information for tours whether you are looking to explore the sites on your own or join in future tours; visit:  http://canalsplash.blogspot.com

WISHING GONDOLA JOE A SAFE & HAPPY VOYAGE!

I would like to give attention here to another worthy Erie Canal project. Joe Deverell, a Weedsport native,  has begun a 150 mile trip traveling the Erie Canal on a Venetian Gondola from Buffalo to Baldwinsville. I've never met Joe, but I knew his mother, Val who worked at the Weedsport Library. Val died in 2004 of Lou Gehrig's disease, and the trip is a tribute to her memory, and to help raise money for a treatment and cure of this devastating disease. Learn more about his trip and follow Joe on his journey at his website: Gondola Joe.