FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2006
CANAL CORPORATION SELECTS GARDEN CLUB OF BROCKPORT FOR FIRST ANNUAL CANALWAY TRAIL ADOPT-A-TRAIL AWARD
Award Presented at Quality Canals for Quality Communities Conference in Perinton
The New York State Canal Corporation today announced that the Garden Club of Brockport has been recognized with an award for their outstanding Adopt-a-Trail efforts along the Canalway Trail. The announcement was made by Canal Corporation Director Carmella R. Mantello at the Quality Canals for Quality Communities Conference at the Burgundy Basin Inn in the Town of Perinton, Monroe County, on April 26, 2006.
Andrea Perry accepted the award on behalf of the Garden Club of Brockport.
“The Canal Corporation is pleased to recognize the outstanding efforts of the members of the Garden Club of Brockport as we present the first Canalway Trail Adopt-A-Trail Award,” Director Mantello said. “The Garden Club has demonstrated their commitment to the Trail by going above and beyond to make the Trail an attractive and alluring recreational asset in their community.”
The Adopt-a-Trail program helps keep the Canalway Trail clean and in good repair by encouraging volunteers to care for sections of the trail in their communities. Volunteers perform activities such as litter pick up, brush cutting, removing weeds and mowing grass. They also help beautify the Canalway Trail with plantings and landscaping. Adopt-a-Trail signs recognizing the group or individuals are furnished and erected at each end of the adopted trail segment. The program is administered in cooperation with the volunteer Canalway Trails Association of New York.
The New York State Canal Corporation announced in March that it was seeking nominations for Adopt-a-Trail groups on the Canalway Trail that deserve special recognition for their outstanding efforts and commitment to maintaining the Trail. A total of 11 groups from across the Canalway Trail System were nominated for their hard work and commitment to the Canalway Trail.
Garden Club of Brockport was selected because their members have inspected their section of the trail frequently, usually more often than once a month, and have kept it clean. Moreover, their section is the most heavily traveled in the Town of Sweden and, consequently, has more litter.
The Garden Club also stood out for their planting of a rose garden on the
canal bank and their maintenance of that garden and of 120 other rose bushes
that the Village of Brockport planted along the towpath. This has required
weeding, trimming, fertilizing, bug control, and extensive care to maintain the
rose bushes.
The Garden Club of Brockport has also planted tulips, daffodils, and other flowers and plants along its section. Thus, the Club has not only been diligent at the litter removal and general maintenance of the Adopt-A-Trail program, but also has carried out a long-term, labor-intensive program to beautify the towpath.
With more than 245 miles of trail constructed, the Erie Canalway Trail is nearly two-thirds complete. The Trail will eventually encompass more than 348 miles of contiguous multi-use trail, connecting Lake Erie and the City of Buffalo to the Hudson River. When completed in 2009, the Trail will be the longest multi-use recreational trail in the U.S.
The Quality Canals for Quality Communities Conference was a one-day conference sponsored by the Canal Corporation in conjunction with Lieutenant Governor Mary O. Donohue, Chair of the Quality Communities Working Group, and the Department of State’s Division of Coastal Resources. More than 230 people attended the conference which highlighted efforts along the Canal System to implement Quality Communities principles and was designed to help local officials, community planners, businesses and not-for-profit organizations implement effective land development, preservation and rehabilitation strategies that promote both economic development and environmental protection, while capitalizing on the potential of the Canal System.
The New York State Canal System is comprised of four historic waterways, the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Spanning 524 miles across New York State, the waterway links the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes and the Niagara River with communities rich in history and culture.
In late May 2005, Governor Pataki unveiled his vision for establishing the Erie Canal Greenway and, ultimately, the Empire State Greenway, connecting the Niagara, Erie and Hudson River Greenways. The Canal Corporation and an interagency task force conducted an extensive public outreach campaign to gather input and ideas, and develop a comprehensive set of recommendations to create the new Erie and Empire State Greenways and examine certain roles and responsibilities currently assigned to the Canal Corporation. The recommendations were made public and delivered in a report to the Governor in late December 2005.
To obtain a free map of the New York State Canalway Trail System, please call 1-800-4CANAL4. To learn more about the Canalway Trail and the Adopt-a-Trail Program, please visit the Canal Corporation’s Website at www.canals.state.ny.us/canalwaytrail/.
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