Holley gives big welcome to Seneca Chief
Replica of famed boat headed to Medina today
Photos by Tom Rivers
HOLLEY – The Seneca Chief carries of a contingent along the Erie Canal on Wednesday afternoon. Most of this group includes Brockport and Holley residents. They were guests on the Seneca Chief, a 73-foot-long replica of the famed boat that carried Gov. DeWitt Clinton on the Erie Canal in 1825 when it opened following eight years of construction.
Volunteers at the Buffalo Maritime Center worked for four years to recreate the Seneca Chief. The 73-foot-long replica received great fanfare last year as part of the 200th anniversary celebration of the Erie Canal. It went from Buffalo to New York City and spent the winter in Waterford near Albany.
The Seneca Chief is doing a “Back to Buffalo” tour this month. The boat was open for tours on Wednesday in Holley.
Because the replica has no engine, the 33-foot historic wooden tugboat C.L. Churchill is used to push and maneuver the vessel along the Erie Canal.
The Seneca Chief will be in Medina today. The schedule includes:
- 3:30 p.m. – Seneca Chief arrives at Medina Canal Basin
- 4 p.m. – Welcome ceremony
- 4:30 p.m. – Visitor experience that is open to the public
- 7 p.m. – Visitor experience public hours end
As part of the welcome ceremony in Holley, some water from the Erie Canal was scooped out of the canal and out in a barrel that will be used to water a white pine tree in Buffalo. Robbie Weit, a Holley elementary student in the red hat, scoops out the water from the canal in Holley.
This Holley group adds the water from the canal in Holley to the barrel. In back are Dan Man, president of the Murray-Holley Historical Society and Mayor Mark Bower. He is assisting Holley students Robbie Weit, Timothy Hendrickson and Vivian Applegate.
The Buffalo Maritime Center did a “Gathering of the Waters” ceremony at each stop last year and then used it to water a white pine tree in New York City.
This year the group is collecting water from each stop and it will be used to water a white pine in Buffalo. The white pine trees were planted as a symbolic tribute to the Haudenosaunee and a commitment to a sustainable future.
Dr. John Montague, president emeritus of the Buffalo Maritime Center, thanks the Holley community for welcoming the Seneca Chief on Wednesday.
Montague said hundreds of volunteers worked over four years to build the replica boat, which he said has helped unite communities along the canal.
“It’s worked out far beyond our dreams,” he said. “It astonishes me that we pulled this off.”
Members of a band, PSA, from Holley Central School performed while people toured the Seneca Chief.
The band members include lead singer Isla Schultz, Brody Williams on drums, Aidan Kelley on guitar and Kallan Babcock on bass.
Former Holley Mayor John Kenney, a retired Holley teacher, steps off the boat after a riding from Brockport to Holley. He has lived in Holley for more than 60 years and said it was his first time riding a boat on the canal.
“You don’t realize how a gorgeous a ride it is with the homes are along the canal and all the wildlife,” Kenney said. “It was very relaxing.”
People line up to tour the boat which was docked at Holley’s Canal Park.
Holley Mayor Mark Bower holds up a souvenir button showing the Seneca Chief. Those buttons were given to crew members as a gift from Holley. They were made by Robbie Weit and his mother, Jessica Weit.
The boat heads west on the Erie Canal, getting close to the Holley Canal Park. This photo was taken from the Bennetts Corners Road canal bridge.
The Seneca Chief reaches the Holley Canal Park, where it was open for tours and docked for the night. The boat was given an escort by the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department’s Marine Patrol.
