Cycling Through Montezuma

It was a great morning meeting bikers from all over the US and Canada.  Lots stopped by and were very interested in learning more about the great Erie Canal history and our plans for the park in Montezuma.

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.

CANAL SPLASH MOVIE NIGHT

Plans are in the works for the Canal Splash Celebration this year on Saturday, August 13th.  Following the tour of sites in Montezuma, there will be a picnic in Memorial Park, and a rare showing of a classic film in the town hall that depicts life as it was on the Erie Canal in upstate New York set in the mid-19th century.

"The Farmer Takes a Wife" opened as a 1934 Broadway play based on a novel, "Rome Haul"  by Walter D. Edmonds.  This film is the 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.

Heritage Park Design Committee Meeting (HPDC)

The monthly HPDC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 23rd, 7pm at the Montezuma Town Hall. Items up for discussion this month are signage, kiosk, trail designation, and funding sources.  Anyone is welcome to join the group or just attend the meeting.

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.

INSPIRED BY ASHES -- PHOENIX RISING?

What happened to our canal town that was once bustling with small businesses and civic organizations that helped support the needs of the community?  The Erie Canal was the catalyst that led Montezuma to grow and prosper by providing a man-made flow of commerce, trade and activity for the town.  When it became time for the old canals to close and move to the outskirts of town,  I believe we lost a sense of place that held it together.  Was the old just really abandoned left to a pile of ashes, or is it ready to give rise to something new.  The new Erie Canal/Seneca River is still on the outskirts of the center of town. We are still connected to it by the parkland that holds our culture and heritage that gratefully has been preserved. We have an opportunity to bring this community alive again through it.   It's flowing and alive with possibility for the town.

When Dan Randolph and my husband, Stan were digging the holes for the sign, they hit ashes. Much of the town burned down with fires that year after year finally destroyed what once existed here.  I found it interesting that we discovered those ashes on the site and at a time where and when we have started to rebuild a sense of our identity and place lost so long ago.

In Greek mythology, a phoenix is a mythical bird with a colorful plumage  It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes. It then has the ability to be reborn from its own ashes and become the offspring of the older one.

The Phoenix has long been presented as a symbol of rebirth, immortality, and renewal. The Belgian silver coin commemorating sixty years of peace, depicts the Phoenix as a representation of a new Europe, post 1945. The capital of Arizona was so named as it was built on the ruins of a civilization that had existed on the site centuries before. What endless possibilities are there ready for the Halls of Montezuma to rebirth and renew? As the offspring of the older Phoenix, what can we do to rebuild from the ruins of the past?

IT'S OFFICIAL -- THE BYRON LAPP MEMORIAL TRAIL

We now have our first officially named trail in the Montezuma Heritage Park!  On Memorial Day we had a wonderful turnout to dedicate the Byron Lapp Memorial Trail. It was a day of honoring and celebration that brought to life what our town stands for:  coming together in community -- and returning to the sense of place that has stood the test of time.  Dominick Recckio, Byron's great-grandson, summed up what the day was all about when he spoke on behalf of his family saying  "how honored they were to have the first trail named in honor of his great-grandfather. He would be very humbled, and very proud."

The look of smiling faces says it all!