by Kristina Gabalski
Brockport, February 6, 2013Even during these winter months while the Erie Canal sits emptied of water, plans are in the works for a multiple day celebration of the canal’s annual opening in the spring.
From May 1-5, the Village of Brockport will celebrate its first-ever “Low Bridge, High Water” event.
“It’s a sign of spring when water starts rising in the canal,” says Brockport Village Trustee Margay Blackman.
She says the idea for the celebration came to her in November 2012, when the Village to Village Challenge regatta took place on the canal from Brockport to Spencerport.
The regatta returns during “Low Bridge, High Water” on May 4, this time with the start line in the Village of Spencerport and the finish line in Brockport.
Trustee Blackman is heading up the organizing committee which is planning the celebration. Currently, the event involves the Brockport Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Merchants Association, the Stetson Club, Pro-Brockport, the Morgan-Manning House, and the Village of Brockport.
In addition to the regatta, Blackman says many events are planned including a Brockport Police Stetson Club 5K Race on May 4, music by Bill Hullfish’s band, a progressive tasting on the evening of May 4 and a visit to Lift Bridge Books on May 5 by author Donna Winters, writer of “Bluebird of Brockport.”
A slide show/talk on the history of the Erie Canal will be presented at 7 p.m. on May 1 by Canal Society of New York State president Tom Grasso and will be held at the Morgan-Manning House. On May 3 at 6:30 p.m., a “Stone Soup Art Auction” will be held at the Brockport High School to raise funds for an historic canal-themed mural to be painted on the Village Department of Public Works building next summer.
In collaboration with the events in Brockport, the Village of Spencerport is working to plan special events for the celebration. In addition to the regatta, Mayor Joyce Lobene says, “I am hoping to do a Walk-A-Thon and Bike Hike.”
Trustee Blackman says she doesn’t know of any other community locally that celebrates the annual opening of the canal. The Village of Waterford on the Hudson River celebrates the opening, but, “Brockport could be the first in the western section to do so in 2013. The occasion will be a strong reminder of yester-year’s important waterway and the continuation of today’s Erie Canal as an economic engine, tourist attraction, and natural asset to our region, state and country,” she says.
Additional confirmed events include a poster contest for 4th graders at Brockport Central School. Posters will be based on the theme of the celebration and the winning poster will be used for marketing next year’s event. First Friday at the Alumni House at The College at Brockport on May 3 will bring participation by the college into the event.
Trustee Blackman says the progressive tasting from 6 to 9 p.m. on May 4, will be held at the Welcome Center on the canal, the Redbird Café, A Different Path Art Gallery, Java Junction, Lift Bridge Books and Fountain of Youth Organics. Tickets are $20.
There will be music at each tasting location, Blackman says. Restaurants participating will serve their own food; local caterers will provide food at the other locations.
The committee is also considering additional events including a contest for who has the best pizza in Brockport; an illustrated talk at the Seymour Library by local artist Stacey Kirby who has been commissioned to create the historic mural; rowing sprint races on the canal by area high school clubs/teams; street musician groups; a Rochester Community Orchestra performance of “Erie Canal Rhapsody;” and the annual CROP Walk may have a portion of their fundraiser along the canal path.
“Another year down the line, we may have historical pageantry,” Blackman adds.
She notes that the Erie Canal is a tremendous resource for the area and brings tourism dollars into the community.
“It’s a treasure,” Trustee Blackman says.
Information about becoming involved in organizing or participating in the canal opening event is available by contacting Margay Blackman at 585-637-7426.
More information on Spencerport’s events will be included in a future issue.
