By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 June 2014 at 12:00 am
Oak Orchard Open includes 36 teams in debut
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Oak Orchard Harbor will be busy Saturday morning at 5 a.m. when boats line up in the channel before heading out to Lake Ontario.
POINT BREEZE – A new fishing tournament – The Oak Orchard Open – will cast off before sun up on Saturday when 36 teams leave the Oak Orchard Harbor at 5 a.m.
The new tournament fills a void left after the Orleans County Pro Am was discontinued after last season. The new tourney has a different format and guarantees $20,000 in prizes, including an $8,000 grand prize.
About 150 anglers will be out early Saturday and Sunday for the 2-day tournament. Each team has four members. They earn points based on 10 fish each day – their five heaviest salmon and trout. The teams get a point for each fish and additional points for each pound of their collective catch.
“We all love fishing and the competition,” said charter boat captain Richard Hajecki.
He was one of the main organizers of the tournament with charter captains Bob Songin and Paul Czarnecki, as well as fisherman Mark Lewis.
Charter boat captain Paul Czarnecki, one of the organizers of the new Oak Orchard Open fishing tournament, goes over the rules with fishermen gathered at the Black North Inn.
The teams each paid a $400 entry fee. Sponsors also helped to push up the overall prize winnings. Hajecki said the tournament is good for the area, drawing outsiders to the Oak Orchard.
“It brings a lot of people to the community and they spend money at the businesses,” he said after a captains’ meeting this evening at the Black North Inn. “It showcases the fishery out here.”
The Oak Orchard Open differs from the Pro Am. Instead of a maximum of 12 fish per day at the Pro Am, there are 10. There also aren’t class distinctions between professionals and amateurs in the Oak Orchard Open. They are all vying for the same prizes.
The fishing stops at 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday and the fish must be weighed by 3:30 at the Black North to qualify.
“It’s a new format and a new idea,” said Mike Waterhouse, the county’s sportfishing coordinator. “It’s new and exciting.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 June 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
POINT BREEZE – Seagulls are making their presence known through sight, sound and smell down at the Oak Orchard Harbor in Point Breeze.
I was down there this afternoon with journalist Alecia Kaus of Batavia for the Coldwater Challenge. We were challenged to get wet by Howard Owens of The Batavian and did so in the 47-degree waters of Lake Ontario. (This may be posted on Facebook and YouTube later.)
I got a new zooms lens yesterday and tried it out on these seagulls.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 June 2014 at 12:00 am
Lift bridges, guard gates, waste weirs would get elevated historical status
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Eagle Harbor lift bridge is one of seven in Orleans County and one of 17 that remain from the canal’s widening from 1905 to 1918.
The Erie Canal gets a lot of attention from preservationists and heritage-minded New Yorkers. But the Barge Canal, which opened in 1918 as an enlarged and deeper Erie Canal, may soon get some recognition.
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor wants the Barge Canal to be recognized on the state and national registers of historic places. The New York State Board for Historic Preservation is scheduled to vote on the Barge Canal application on June 12.
“We want to elevate its importance,” said Jean Mackay, director of communications and outreach for the Corridor. “This would be another layer of recognition.”
The guard gates on the canal are 55 feet wide. This photo shows the gates in Albion, just east of the Gaines Basin Road bridge. These gates were built in 1913.
Congress in 2000 declared the canal as a National Heritage Corridor, one of 49 such areas in the country.
When the 363-mile-long waterway opened in 1825, it transformed Upstate New York into an economic powerhouse, raising the fortunes of canal towns such as Medina, Albion and Holley.
When railroads started to threaten the canal in the mid- to late-1800s, state officials moved to widen and deepen the canal. In 1918, after 13 years of construction, the Barge Canal was born, and many of the structures from that upgrade – lift bridges, single-truss bridges, guard gates, terminals and waste weirs – remain along the system today.
“There are a tremendous number of really interesting and historical sites along the canal corridor,” Mackay said.
This waste weir was constructed in 1910. It is used to drain water from the canal. The waste weir is located off State Street behind Community Action, west of Brown Street in Albion.
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor’s application is 267 pages long. It identifies 566 contributing structures along the canal that add to the historic significance of the barge system.
In Orleans County, the contributing structures include:
Murray – Bennetts Corners Road bridge from 1911; Holley Waste Weir built in 1914; Holley Embankment (the tallest on the system, rising 76 feet above the valley of the East Branch of Sandy Creek); East Avenue Lift Bridge constructed in 1911; Holley Terminal, constructed in 1915 as a 16-foot by 30-foot wood frame freight house;
Guard Gate that is west of North Main Street and constructed 1914; Telegraph Road Bridge built in 1911; Groth Road Bridge built in 1911; Hulberton Road Lift Bridge constructed 1913; Brockville Waste Weir east of Fancher Road Bridge, constructed 1911; Hindsburg Road Bridge constructed 1911; and Transit Road Bridge constructed 1911.
Albion – Densmore Road Bridge constructed in 1911; Keitel Road Bridge built in 1912; Butts Road Bridge constructed 1912; Brown Street Bridge from 1912 (includes a sidewalk); Albion Waste Weir off State Street behind Community Action, constructed in 1910; Ingersoll Street Lift Bridge from 1911; Main Street Lift Bridge from 1914;
Albion terminal and shops for Canal Corporation, built in 1917; Lattins Farm Road bridge from 1911; Guard Gates from 1913; Gaines Basin Road bridge from 1912; Eagle Harbor Waste Weir that includes three drain gates, built in 1912; Eagle Harbor Lift Bridge, built in 1910 with a wood frame tower; Allens Bridge Road Bridge built in 1909; and Presbyterian Road Bridge from 1909.
The Allens Bridge Road canal bridge was built in 1909 and is nearly 200 feet long.
Ridgeway – Knowlesville Lift Bridge from 1910 (During a 1975 rehabilitation, the tower was replaced by one-story brick control building on east side at south end of bridge.); Knowlesville Terminal, west of Knowlesville lift bridge, and built in 1910; Culvert Road (This is the only place where a road passes under a branch of the New York State Canal System. There has been a road culvert under the canal here 1823. Stone portals at either end of the enlarged Erie Canal culvert were dismantled and re-erected when it was extended to its current 200-foot length as part of Barge Canal construction, according to the Barge Canal application to the state.);
Beals Road Bridge from 1909; Bates Road Bridge constructed in 1914; Guard Gate, west of Bates Road bridge, and constructed in 1914; Pleasant Street/Horan Avenue Bridge built in 1914; Oak Orchard Creek Aqueduct, constructed in 1914. (The Oak Orchard Creek span is the only true aqueduct on the Barge Canal system. The structure consists of a concrete arch over Oak Orchard Creek at the head of Medina Falls with concrete walls on either side of the channel.)
Medina Terminal, a 24- by 70-foot frame freight house constructed in 1916; Eagle Street/Glenwood Avenue Bridge, constructed 1914; Prospect Avenue/ Route 63 Lift Bridge, built in 1914; Marshall Road Bridge from 1909; and a Guard Gate near Middleport, from 1913.
In this photo from Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin, crews work on the retaining walls at the Canal Basin in Medina on April 3, 1914.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 May 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
SHELBY – I had to go Buffalo yesterday and on the way home and drove along some of the rural roads of Shelby. Here are a few highlights from the drive.
These ducks were in the road at the intersection of Bigford and Martin roads at dusk on Wednesday.
Telephone poles line Martin Road, which includes several picturesque barns.
Two birdhouses are attached to a tree on Edwards Road.
The leaves from a tree in the Millville Cemetery are in the foreground while bales of hay are lined up across the street on East Shelby Road.
The sun comes down over the bales of hay on East Shelby Road across from the Millville Cemetery.
The monument of Asa Hill is a prominent landmark in the Millville Cemetery and the East Shelby community. Hill served in the Civil War and returned to the community and became a prominent farmer.
The monument to Asa Hill looks towards Sanderson Road, where local lore says he keeps watch on the family farm.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 May 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
Albion students and their physical education teacher Jay Kovaleski (in green) were out in kayaks on the canal at about 11:30 this morning. These photos were taken as they headed east between the Main Street and Gaines Road sections of the canal.
ALBION – These mothers are leading and watching out for their youngsters earlier today in front of the Wal-Mart at Albion.
Cheryl Wertman took these pictures and shared this message: “Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers and grandmothers who support their sons, daughters, and grandchildren in all their academic and extra-curricular activities.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 May 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Erie Canal is pictured on Tuesday evening in this photo taken from the top of the stairs at the lift bridge in Knowlesville. The canal’s opening has been delayed due to the rainy weather.
ALBANY – The recent heavy rainfall has delayed the opening of the Erie Canal’s navigational season. The canal was due to open on Saturday for its 190th season.
The state Canal Corporation has pushed back opening day until next week.
“Conditions permitting, the Canal Corporation expects to be able to open most portions of the Canal System during the week of May 5,” the Canal Corporation advised today.
A revised opening schedule for the 2014 navigation season will be published as soon as possible, Canal Corp. officials said.
For updates and information monitor 1-800-4CANAL4 and www.canals.ny.gov.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 April 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
The rainy spring is keeping farmers out of their fields. The big downpour today added to their woes. Many fields are flooded including the one pictured on top on Presbyterian Road in the town of Ridgeway.
This pipe runs under the road and directs water to the north side.
This is a picture of the same flooded field along Presbyterian Road. This picture was taken at about 8:15 p.m. today.
Earlier in the day, during the peak of the downpour, I stopped along Ridge Road and got this picture. This is on the western end of Albion, looking south from the Ridge.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 April 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Vernon Fonda, a conservation officer with the state Department of Conservation, stands near the edge of Johnson Creek just before the Lyndonville Dam. Fonda wants to improve the stability of the bank and accessibility of the site for fishermen. He envisions a floating dock near where he is standing, closer to the bridge over Route 63.
LYNDONVILLE – It’s one of the area’s most picturesque spots, and it also is a popular fishing hole.
The section in front of the Lyndonville Dam along Johnson Creek also is dangerous, with loose soil and a rocky embankment.
Vernon Fonda moved to Lyndonville about six months ago. He works as a conservation officer for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Fonda loves the Lyndonville community. He is president of the PTA, is joining the Lions Club and enjoys the area’s natural resources.
The spot by the dam needs to be stabilized to prevent further erosion, and he wants to make it easier for fishermen to use the site.
“Johnson Creek is world renowned,” Fonda said. “If we make the site safer it will increase tourism.”
He is trying to line up support in the community for the project. He said boulders, a floating dock, ramp with a railing, fencing, a kiosk to list fish that can be caught at the site, and other improvements are all under consideration.
Vernon Fonda also is a Lyndonville resident. He would like to beautify the area near the Lyndonville Dam. He shows where the bank is suffering from erosion.
Mayor Steve McAvoy welcomes Fonda’s input and energy in making the site more stable and safer. McAvoy said the village will need to work with the Army Corps of Engineers, DEC, Soil and Water Conservation District and other agencies that will all need to sign off on any work at the site.
“He’s really taken the bull by the horns,” McAvoy said about Fonda.
The village of Lyndonville owns the lands by the property. Erosion has been a concern, especially as the pace has quickened in the past six months or so, McAvoy said.
The dam is at an angle where the creek hits the embankment hard, especially after big rains or snow melts.
“It’s tremendous the force in there,” said Terry Woodworth, the village DPW superintendent.
Photo courtesy of Village of Lyndonville – During high waters, after a big rain or snow melt, Johnson Creek rises and eats away at the embankment.
The village looked at a stabilization project a few years ago and it was about $350,000 then and there were questions whether it would work, Woodworth said.
“It won’t be an easy fix,” he said.
The village would like to see the upper pond dredged, and the flood gates and piping repaired by the dam.
Woodworth is grateful Fonda sees the potential at the site, and has got the community interested in it. Fonda has connected with government officials, service organizations and local individuals and businesses about the project.
“Vern has got people looking at it,’” Woodworth said.
Fonda also has been trying to improve public fishing access along the creek downstream.
“This started as a stabilization project and now it includes making the area more accessible to fishermen,” Fonda said.
Photo by Sue Cook – This photo from a few weeks ago shows the Kanyoo Trail at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.
Press release
Ducks Unlimited
SHELBY – Ducks Unlimited has been awarded a $62,407 grant for coastal wetlands restoration work in Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. DU and their partners will enhance 1,000 acres of forested wetland through restored hydrology and reforestation.
“Iroquois has always been important to Ducks Unlimited,” said Sarah Fleming, Ducks Unlimited regional biologist. “The area is an important stop for migratory waterfowl. Reforesting provides valuable habitat, and putting in new culverts and removing portions of a dike will help this portion of the refuge function at a much higher level, providing more food and better opportunities for waterfowl on their way to the breeding grounds.”
The grant comes through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. Other partners in the grant proposal include Cargill, Friends of Iroquois NWR and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Work will take place in an area known as the Seneca Pool, and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2014. Almost every wildlife species uses wetlands at some point of its lifecycle, and a diverse range of wildlife species stand to benefit from the enhanced habitat, including American black duck, American woodcock and cerulean warblers.
Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 13 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 April 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Several groups are out today picking up trash and doing other beautification efforts along the Erie Canal in Orleans County, part of a state-wide effort to clean the towpath and canal.
The top photo shows Guy Eaton, left, and Pete Crandall of the Sons of the American Legion in Medina. They are spreading mulch by the Glenwood Avenue lift bridge next to the Legion.
Gary Hill, another Son of the Legion, picks up garbage by the canal. His son Dan also helped with the effort. The Sons are collecting trash along the Towpath at the Glenwood Avenue Bridge to the Bates Road boat launch.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 April 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Orleans Hub editor turned 40 today and my present to myself was a jog while the sun was setting in Albion.
I brought along my Smartphone and took a few pictures of the scenery. The top photo was by an apple orchard along Butts Road.
Not far from the orchard is a bridge for the railroad tracks. I ventured up the embankment to the tracks because I like a little adventure. The pictures show the tracks looking east and then west toward the sun.
A little farther on Butts Road towards Route 31 and there is a nice barn with a quilt pattern on top.
I stopped by Bullard Park. It was awfully quiet with the temps in the low 40s. It will warm up with highs in the mid-50s from Sunday through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 April 2014 at 12:00 am
Volunteers are welcome to help clean up the canal this weekend in advance of its opening on May 3 for its 190th season.
HOLLEY – In Holley, volunteers should meet at gazebo on East Avenue at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The village encourages people to wear gloves, and leather shoes or boots. Children under 12 can not operate machinery and must be accompanied by an adult. The clean up event lasts until noon.
The Kendall Masonic Lodge also is planning a cleanup at Holley’s canal park. Masons will be there at 9 a.m. on Sunday. Volunteers will split up into two groups and walk the towpaths on both sides of the canal, heading east gathering trash and debris.
Volunteers conclude at the County Line Bridge (Route 31) where there is a collection site at the boat launch.
ALBION – The Orleans County Snowdrifters plan to meet at the Eagle Harbor lift bridge at 9 a.m. on Saturday and clean rubbish along the canal to Bates Road in Medina and to Groth Road in Holley.
MEDINA – The Sons of the American Legion will meet at 10 a.m. on Saturday to rake, trim and mulch the garden at Glenwood Avenue bridge approach. They will also collect trash along the Towpath at the Glenwood Avenue Bridge to the Bates Road boat launch.
The Medina Lions Club will have its Environmental Cleanup Day from 9 a.m. to noon on May 3, cleaning up the public parks in the Medina area, including the Medina Erie Canal Basin, Lions Park located along the canal, Butts Park, and State Street Park.
Volunteers will clean up trash, rake up debris, trim bushes and prepare flower beds in the identified places. They will work from 9 a.m. until noon. The Lions Club will then provide a picnic lunch for all volunteers.
ALBION – To celebrate Earth Day, the GCC Albion Campus Wellness Coalition planted two trees on Wednesday, donated by Steve Nesbitt Farms, and Bella and Pino Aldaco. The trees stand for the growth of awareness in support of a healthy community.
Pam Lusk, Albion Campus Wellness Coordinator and Shelly Wolanske, WNY Prevention Resource Center Senior Community Development Specialist, assisted students in the development of their mission and efforts to build capacity.
Pictured above, include, from left: Chris Mason, Christine Chennell, Kassy Sutton, Melissa Qualey and Jason Burley.
For more information about the Wellness Coalition, please visit the group’s table at the Civil War Encampment on April 26-27 at the GCC Medina Campus Center.
