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.

SPARE SEAT EXPEDITION PICNIC ON RICHMOND AQUEDUCT

Spare Seat Picnic at the Richmond Aqueduct, May 5, 2012

Clouds gave way to warm sunshine as our  UK visitors rowed into the park arriving from their stay over in Lyons, NY. We enjoyed talking with them over a relaxing picnic lunch on the Richmond Aqueduct.  I couldn't help but contrast the day to an earlier picnic at this historic location. Built in 1854, the aqueduct had 31 arches. Today there are seven remaining arches left after the Erie Canal was rerouted and dredged out in the Seneca River in 1917. You might also notice our picnic was a bit more informal.

Their journey started on the Erie Canal in Buffalo and will end traveling down the Hudson River to New York City.  Traveling the Erie Canal must seem like a kiddie pool to both Richard Harpham and Glenn Charles who have kayaked in some amazing challenging waters.

The event's main sponsor was I Love New York, and Cayuga County's tourism executive director Meg Vanek helped me to coordinate the day's event.  Lori Solomon-Duell, the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor's director of tourism helped to organize it,  and is traveling to each community along the way to keep the trip on schedule and running smoothly. The event is bringing awareness to many upstate communities along the Erie Canal that are proud of our heritage, and to give visitors a chance to experience the rich natural and historic resources in our canal communities.

Called the Spare Seat Expedition, they are being accompanied on part of their journey in one of the spare seats by smiling Rosie Fuller who is an editor with UK’s Adventure Travel Magazine.  Others have been invited to join them for a ride along the route. Mark DeCracker traveled the 22-mile ride from Lyons to Montezuma. Taking the next twelve-mile stretch was Mike Riley, Trail boss for the Montezuma Heritage Park and canal historian took the spare seat to Weedsport.  (Although I will say, he was somewhat reluctant, but by the time he got to Weedsport he was very glad he went along for the ride.) From there Jeanne Baker opened the Old Brutus Historical Museum to visit the canal displays and exhibits there. They dined at Devaney's in Weedsport before heading to Seneca Falls for the rest of the weekend. Then it's back on the canal at Weedsport to continue their journey. You can follow the rest of their trip on their blog at: Spare Seat Blog

Thank you to everyone who helped to make it possible, those who came out to welcome our guests, and to Richard and Glenn for sharing this amazing journey with us. They told us they would be back again, this time cycling the Canalway Trail. We look forward to their return.

Mark your calendar to visit two National Historic Register sites at our next event on August 11, 2012, starting at 9:00 AM in Montezuma. Mike Riley will be back on land (Yes, he survived it!) to guide us with his popular Cayuga County canal site tour, "Following the Flow; A Tale of Two Erie Canals." . As Trail Boss for the Montezuma Heritage Park, Mike knows first hand plans for the development the park, and will lead a 1.6 mile walking tour sharing highlights of historic canal sites and new trails now open in the park. Mike will also meet anyone that wants to drive on to Port Byron to visit the Erie House with updates on the Canal Society's Erie Canal Heritage Park at the site of Lock 52. The Old Brutus Historical Society Museum will be open from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM with displays of canal history. For more information on the tour, details on the sites and photos, visit our blog at  Cayuga County Canals Tour

CLEAN SWEEP VOLUNTEERS PREPARE PARK FOR SPARE SEAT EXPEDITION VISITORS FROM UK

The Canal Clean Sweep was another huge success this year in the Montezuma Heritage Park thanks to some wonderful volunteers that came out on Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 29.  This year's two events helped to ready the park for the arrival of visitors this week traveling from Buffalo across state on the Erie Canal and then down the Hudson River to New York City.  Richard Harpham and Glenn Charles are two experienced adventurers who have covered over 19,500 human powered miles between them by kayak, canoe and bike and have a passion for inspiring young people and communities through their challenges. They will be sharing their experiences by giving talks about their adventures and documenting life and interviewing people they meet on their travels. They started their adventure this morning in Buffalo (May 1, 2012), and are expected to stop in Montezuma for lunch at the Richmond Aqueduct on Saturday, May 5th.  You can follow them on their adventure through their blog:  http://www.thespareseat.com/the-spare-seat-blog

Chef Paul Baker removes the trash cans to reveal two turkeys for lunch.

The April 21 event,  one of the more cold and rainy spring days, didn't dampen the enthusiasm for getting the job done. Volunteers pitched in to accomplish two major goals set by the Design Committee for the day. Paul Baker, our Master Chef, cooked Trash Can Turkey for lunch while workers set out for trail work.  Maybe it was the smell roasting turkey that led our work teams to finish their jobs quickly.

Bench placed at the entrance to the Lock 62 Trail

One crew worked on installing four new benches (water to set the cement provided by Mother Nature) were placed along the Byron Lapp Memorial Trail and the Aqueduct Trail.  Extensive brush clearing work was done to reveal the well-intact Lock 11 remains on the Cayuga Seneca Canal.

Brush clearing at Lock 11 on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal

Volunteers created a clear view on the west side of Lock 11 on the C & S Canal

By noon the work was done, and we abandoned the idea of a trailgate lunch to head for dryer and warmer ground at the town hall.

Sunny skies on Sunday, April 29 greeted volunteer Girl Scouts, American Heritage Girls and Boy Scouts with their leaders and parents from Montezuma, Port Byron and Bloomfield to help in the park for this year's second Clean Sweep event. Before getting started a Bike Rodeo was held for youth from the area teaching hands-on bike safety and were given brand new helmets conducted by Joe Mushock and his volunteers for the Cayuga County Governor's Traffic Safety program.

Amy Barra, Cornell Cooperative Extension Environmental Educator gives us a lesson on how the garlic mustard plant is a very invasive specie that spreads, and is damaging the ecosystem. It's roots have toxins that are harmful to other more beneficial plants. It didn't take much convincing for the youth to start scouting out the plant that Amy helped them identify, and pulling it up by its root on the Aqueduct Trail on our way back to the parking lot.  Their enthusiasm for wanting to help is so encouraging for the future of our Mother Earth. The adult leaders and parents are to be commended for teaching them the importance of protecting our natural resources. Every root pulled helped to stop further invasion.

THANKS -- GREAT WORK!

Volunteers Needed for a Spring Clean Sweep in the Park

In recognition of Earth Day, the Town of Montezuma is teaming up with the New York's Clean Sweep program and the Let's G.O.!(Get Outside). The 7th Annual Clean Sweep program is sponsored by Parks and Trails, New York, the NYS Canal Corporation and Environmental Facilities Corporation to encourage community groups and municipalities to participate doing some  “spring cleaning”  along the Canal System and the Canalway Trail.  The 2nd Annual Let's G.O.! is sponsored by the Children and Nature Network with a huge and inspiring push to get all people outside, and to encourage service projects to benefit the natural world as a part of the process.


On Saturday, April 21, 2012, from 9 AM-4 PM volunteers are invited to join in helping in several projects planned for the day. This is not just a call to action, it is a call for fun! Think of it as a party invitation in the Montezuma Heritage Park where all the green natural resources would look so much better cleaned up.  A new trail is now being cleared that will give us access to a new location on the original Erie Canal known as Clinton's Ditch, and the Cayuga and Seneca Canal Lock 11. Learn how this site was one of the most important sites on the Erie Canal that opened navigation up to the Finger Lakes and beyond. 

We will meet at the Chapman Road trailhead entrance of the park just south of the Highway Town Barn at 9 AM.  What will the Montezuma Historical Society be doing to help with this Spring Cleaning event?  Why, hosting a Trailgating Trash Can Turkey Lunch, of course, with all fixin's. What could be more fun?  Dress weather appropriately and bring work gloves.

On Sunday, April 29th from 1-3 PM the Girl Scouts will host another Cleaning Party in the park. Julie Smith, Girl Scout leader, has invited other youth groups of the area to join in the clean up as part of their GO GREEN program.  Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County is helping with this event, and the Cayuga County National Bike Safety program will be offering bicycle safety tips for youth, providing water bottles and helmets.

Our children of today are suffering (and yes, us adults, too) from Nature Deficient-Disorder. Kids ages 8 to 18 spend an average of 7.5 hours a day, 7 days a week, plugged into computers, TV, video games, music, cells phones, etc. according to a Kaiser Family Foundation Study.  By caring for the park we will promote a strong connection with the outdoors our youth is missing today.  Being able to offer programs like these will lead to a healthier, safer community, greater support and protection of our natural landscapes, and enhancing our community's heritage for this generation and those yet to come.

SIGNS OF SPRINGING INTO ACTION

New NYS Historic Site sign along Route 90 near Erie Street

Signs of Spring are early this year and not only have the birds been busy, but we have some new great projects underway at the Montezuma Heritage Park. Two new signs went up this week by the NYS to direct visitors from Routes 31 and 90 to the historic canal sites in the park.

NYS Historic Site sign on Route 31 near High Street

Roof Sections for two new kiosks

Saws have been a-buzzin' at the highway garage where volunteer Design Committee members Dan Randolph and Stan Longyear have been busy building the roof sections for two kiosks to be located at the site of the High Street trailhead of the Byron Lapp Memorial Trail and the Chapman Road trailhead at the Aqueduct Trail.

Once the roof sections were finished, they started  building four new benches for the Byron Lapp Memorial and Aqueduct Trails. Plans are for volunteers to install the new benches on Saturday, April 21 during the Canal Clean Sweep event scheduled to clean up and work on the trails in the park. Both the benches and kiosks were designed by Town Supervisor John Malenick.

Workshop set up at Town Highway Garage

The next project ready to begin are the trail markers. At our Design Committee meeting this week we gave each trail a name, number and color for the signs to go on the markers.  Maps will be created for the kiosks to easily identify the trail locations and their distances.

Funding for this project was made possible by the Creating Healthy Places to Live, Work & Play Grant (funded by the New York State Department of Health).  Thanks to our volunteers NYS, and CHP for making this happen!

TRAIL BOSS ANNOUNCED

At the February 23rd Heritage Park Committee meeting, Mike Riley accepted the volunteer position as Trail Boss for the park project. When it comes to natural resources, trails and canal history, I can think of no one better qualified than Mike for the job. I'm so grateful he accepted it on top of all the other many activities he is involved in.

Mike Riley describes the workings of the Richmond Aqueduct 

Mike's by-day "real" job is foreman at Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation. His overall experience working to enhance and protect natural resources will be a valuable asset to the environmentally sensitive areas in the park. His knowledge of canal history is responsible for helping me to learn and understand the different stages and mechanics of canal building.  Through his study, he's uncovered little known facts and stories that contribute to Montezuma's unique part of Erie and Cayuga-Seneca Canal history.  Ten years ago, he wrote a book, "Twelve and a Half Miles: The Erie Canal in Cayuga County,"  and recently posted a web edition, free of charge on the Cayuga County Canals website, he helped to create with full color photos and maps.

He serves as a director with the West Onondaga-Cayuga Regional Trail Group of the Canalway Association. The Association is helping communities plan, develop and manage trail segments of the  524-mile continuous trail along New York's historic canals. He serves as a director with the Canal Society of New York, a non-profit educational organization that brings together canal enthusiasts from across the state. The Erie Canal Camillus Park has also benefited from his expertise on many projects, as well as conducting boat tours for them.  In his hometown, he serves as president of the Lock 52 Historical Society of Port Byron, Town of Mentz Planning Board member, and Town Historian. Here in Montezuma, the Town has benefited from his leading our yearly historic walking tours that has now expanded as part the Canal Splash Following The Flow Driving and Walking Tour and writes for the Cayuga County Canal Tours blog.  He attends monthly meetings of the Park Design Committee and gives valuable input.  

Mike and his wife Mary, along with their son, Shane, and daughter Kate, have enjoyed many camping trips that usually involve visiting a canal site. He is always learning more about trails and canal history that he is willing to share.  There's a saying, "If you want to get something done, just ask a busy person."  Thankfully, Mike's the man for this job!









 

NEW TRAIL BEING BLAZED

There's been been plenty of activity in Montezuma this winter to help raise some money for the park and develop a new trail that uncovers unseen parts of the original Clinton's Ditch. The work done  cleared the way for public access to the Cayuga-Seneca Lock 11 site now on the west side (towpath side) of the C&S only accessible from private land before. Much thanks is given to Bill Breen for the suggestion to raise money through logging some of the prime walnut trees we have in the area. The logging project was contracted by the town with William Haessner Logging who as part of the contract agreed to help create a trail exposing the part of Clinton's Ditch that joined into the C&S Canal here in Montezuma. Working with Bill, was Forester Doug Brico, who marked trees necessary for removal due to the state of maturity, disease or aspect making it undesirable as a park type tree.

On January 6, 2012, Bill Haessner drops the first tree and forges through the area east of Chapman Road and the drydock area. This begins opening up a new trail along Clinton's Ditch built here 1819.
The horse power of Bill's skidder is a sharp contrast to the axes, horses and stump pullers that would have been used to clear the land for the canal originally.

On a walk on January 10, 2012, Clinton's Ditch is clearly seen from 

 

the new trail opened up.

On January 21, 2012 my husband, Stan and I walked the newly cleared trail all the way to the C&S Canal and Lock 11. Clinton's Ditch is to the right of the trail.

C&S Lock 11 is now clearly visible from the west side of the newly formed trail.  The logging project gave public access to the site only before seen with permission through private owner's land.

The work on the enlarged Erie made it necessary to construct a lock at the junction of the C&S and the Erie in Montezuma. During the Clinton’s Ditch era both canals were at the same elevation and the Cayuga merely intersected with the Erie. When the Erie was raised to cross the Seneca River on an aqueduct, it was three feet higher then the C&S. The new lock, C&S Lock 11, was built just to the south of this junction, southwest of the present-day firehouse location. Cayuga-Seneca Lock 11 was put in use in 1853 and its remains are well intact today.

This early photo is near the site of the junction of the Erie and C&S Canals and Lock 11.

 

 

 

 

By the end of January. Bill had finished the project, and we now can look forward to further develop the trail this Spring.