Canal history focus of two Greenway Walks

Two of the area's most well known and respected canal historians will both be leading walks on the Genesee Valley Greenway within Letchworth State Park on the afternoon of Saturday, June 15. Each event will focus on a separate aspect of the history of the Genesee Valley Canal which played a major role in the development of western New York and transported passengers, agricultural products, gypsum, lumber, and manufactured goods from 1840 to 1978 between the Erie Canal in Rochester and the Allegany River near Olean.

At 2 p.m., Dave Kipp, Genesee Valley Canal historian, and author of Locking the Heights: The Rise and Demise of the Genesee Valley Canal, will share his extensive knowledge of the canal's history during a walk along the canal towpath next to stone canal locks #54 to 60. The locks are located within the one-mile section of Genesee Valley Greenway between Oakland and Short Tract Roads in the Town of Portage and are visible from Route 436 between Nunda and Portageville. This series of seven locks is the best preserved of 17 locks built to negotiate the change in elevation between the Keshequa Creek Valley in Nunda and the glacial moraine in Portage. This walk will begin at the Greenway's Oakland Road parking area, located at the intersection of Oakland Road an Route 436, 1.5 miles west of Nunda.

At 3:30 p.m., Tom Grasso, Genesee Valley Canal historian and lecturer and president of the Canal Society of New York State, will lead a two-mile walk along the former canal towpath (now Genesee Valley Greenway) from the Letchworth State Park Parade Grounds to the famous Slide Area and Portage Hill Tunnel. Grasso, a geologist, will explain how the land forms and geology of the area challenged and directed the efforts of canal builders. Grasso will describe how the Slide Area was formed and why it created never-ending maintenance expenditures for canal and railroad operators. Grasso will also discuss the tunnels envisioned and started by the canal builders, the pinning of the canal to the top of the gorge walls, and the means chosen to cross an ancient river bed. The walk will begin at the Letchworth State Park Parade Grounds parking lot on the east side of the park.

After the walks, the Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway will host a silent auction, chicken barbecue and barn dance at Ravenwood Farms, located on-half mile north of Route 436 at 9174 Short Tract Road in the Town of Portage. Short Tract Road is 2.5 miles west of Nunda. Funds raised will help support the Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway's public outreach, interpretation, and trail maintenance efforts. The Silent Auction will begin at 5 p.m. The chicken barbecue will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. From 8 p.m. to midnight, the Starlight Ramblers will entertain at a square dance in the large hay barn at Ravenwood Farms.

Tickets for the chicken barbecue are $7/person or $4/person for a half portion. Take-outs will be available. Barn dance tickets are $5/person. A special barbecue and barn dance ticket can be purchased for $10. Tickets can be purchased at Byrnes Pharmacy, and McMaster Pontiac-GMC in Nunda, from Nunda Kiwanis members and the Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway office, or at the door.