Photos by Tom Rivers – The waterfalls plunges the east branch of Sandy Creek about 35 feet.

HOLLEY – I was in Holley today and stopped by the Holley Waterfalls, which seem to burst out of the side of a hill in wooded area off Frisbee Terrace.

The village of Holley worked hard about 15 years ago to create a canal park, trail system and picnic area by the waterfalls.

This is one of Orleans County’s best spots and seems half the high schoolers I know have their senior pictures taken here.

Holley is trying to draw more attention to this site with signs along Route 31. If you’re wondering how to get there you turn towards the Save-A-Lot on Frisbee Terrace and follow the road down past the DPW garage.

You can even explore on the hill and get some pictures from up top. If you go to the Canal Park and walk a little to the east, you can also see how the east branch of Sandy Creek flows under the canal and then tumbles down the falls.

Sandy Creek seems to be racing towards the falls, ready for the big drop.

This is as close as I was willing to get looking down the waterfalls.

I give Holley high marks for developing a trail system and canal park with the waterfalls the exclamation point. The village has also added benches, a pavilion and some grills. I stop by the waterfalls a few times a year and people are always there. Two people were fishing when I stopped by around 4 p.m.

Nature shows its grit on the side of the hill.

Some of the leaves won’t budge despite the fast-moving water.

Oak Orchard Creek plunges 40 feet near canal in Medina

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – I’ve heard it and seen it from a distance. But I had never been close to the Medina Waterfalls – until this afternoon.

We ran a Vintage Orleans photo earlier today from 1905 of the Aqueduct in Medina. The Aqueduct gives the Oak Orchard Creek a path to run under the Erie Canal in Medina. Not long after, the creek plunges in a waterfalls.

I wanted to see it, but it wasn’t easy. There’s no signage (that I could see) directing pedestrians to see this attraction. I was stumped on how to get there. But long-time Medina resident Denise Adams was out walking her dog along the towpath, on the north side near the Horan Road bridge. She knew the drop-off point where people went to go see the falls.

We headed west, past the creek. It’s a long drop off from the concrete path to get down to the trails leading to the waterfalls. Some people made a mound of dirt at one spot so the drop wouldn’t be so far. It’s still probably 8 to 10 feet below.

Adams told me she sees high schoolers head down to the waterfalls. I decided to make the descent, although I wondered how I’d get back up.

Trails take you to the creek but it’s slippery. You could easily fall and slide right the creek. I kept my wits and footing and worked my way towards the waterfalls, passing sandstone walls and sandstone chunks along the path.

One slip and you could end up in the creek.

I’ve had the waterfalls on a to-do list for a few months. I waited until the fall when the leaves wouldn’t block the view and would add some color.

This waterfall is powerful. It’s not a babbling brook, trickling down a hill. It’s far more ferocious than the waterfalls in Holley, Clarendon or Waterport.

The waterfalls roars with the Horan Road bridge in the background.

I grabbed several photos and headed back. I reached the spot where I descended, but I didn’t think I could jump, grab the concrete ledge and hoist myself up. Some of the teens made a wobbly stack of stone to try to get up, but that seemed too unsteady.

I kept walking west, looking for a way to get back up. I had to dodge cesspools, rotted trees, branches and other obstacles, all while trying to avoid a slip off the cliff.

Be prepared for an adventure if you want to see the Medina Waterfalls. I’d recommend some stairs be installed to make it safer for people to climb off and then back up the towpath.

I finally found a spot maybe 100 yards down. Adams was relieved to see me. She said she went home and her husband made her come back in case I ended up in the creek.

It really wasn’t too risky, but I’m surprised something this nice has to be so difficult to go see. Medina could have an attraction with the waterfalls if it was clearly marked along the canal, and if there were sturdy steps so people could go down and then come back up on the towpath.

I’m not sure who owns this property. The owner may not want people to go exploring. But people clearly are. So why not make it a little easier?

There should be some railings near the paths by the creek. One slip and someone could end up in the water.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church looms in the distance in this photo of the Oak Orchard Creek in Medina. The waterfalls (not pictured) are close, a little to the east.

This part of the Erie Canal was a particularly difficult challenge for the engineers and workers nearly 200 years ago. They built the aqueduct over the creek, and the canal followed the contours of the Oak Orchard Gorge. That’s why there is the wide area in Medina at the canal basin.

I don’t know the whole story, but after today I’m quite fascinated by this spot. I just wish I didn’t have to be a daredevil to experience it.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The sun rises over the railroad tracks looking east from the Clarendon Street bridge this morning in Albion.

I rushed out to get a few photos after my 9-year-old son came downstairs exclaiming about the colors in the sky at 7 this morning. He instructed me to “go take a picture.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – No need to take a ride out in the country to see the fall foliage in its glory. I stopped by the Courthouse Square in Albion this afternoon and took these photos.

The top photo is on the Courthouse lawn with the First Baptist Church in back in the center. The Episcopal Church is at right and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church is at left.

The top of the Orleans County Courthouse dome shows while some leaves cling to one of the trees on the lawn.

The County Clerk’s Building is framed by a mostly barren branch in this photo. The Courthouse Square and the seven churches nearby are part of a district named to the National Register of Historic Places.

188 years ago the canal opened, turning Orleans County into a hot spot

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Erie Canal opened 188 years ago. It was a marvelous day.

The new man-made wonder ran 363 miles, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, greatly reducing the time and cost of shipping goods and personal travel.

Gov. DeWitt Clinton rode a canal boat from Buffalo to New York City to celebrate the new waterway. He convinced the state Legislature in 1817 to commence on the monumental task of digging a 40-foot-wide ditch that would be 4 feet deep.

The canal would turn Orleans County and several of its villages and hamlets into thriving communities.

I took the photo of the flag this evening in Albion with the Ingersoll Street lift bridge in the background. Here’s wishing the canal many more years of good health.

Tim Andrus of Kent is host of Rush Outdoors

Photos by Tom Rivers – Tim Andrus and Rush Outdoors, a TV series on hunting and fishing that appears on seven networks in New York, were in Orleans County on Thursday for a show about the fall fishery. Andrus, a Kent resident, is pictured at the Archer’s Club on the Oak Orchard River.

WATERPORT – When people outside New York State think of New York, they likely first think of a big city with skyscrapers. Tim Andrus and John Lenox want them to think of white-tailed deer, Chinook salmon and the Great Outdoors.

Lenox is co-owner of Rush Outdoors, a television show that focuses on hunting and fishing destinations in New York. The show is wrapping up filming for its second season.

The show was launched last year on one network, Time Warner Cable Sports. Andrus, a Kent resident, is host of the show that has grown to seven networks in New York, with viewers in southern Ontario and Pennsylvania.

“There is so much to offer the outdoorsman in New York State that doesn’t get talked about,” Lenox said.

Rush Outdoors wants to highlight New York as a great place for fishing and hunting. This angler is show in the Oak Orchard River on Thursday.

He mentions hunting and hiking in the Adirondack, Catskill and Allegany mountains. Lake Ontario and Lake Erie offer chances to catch huge fish.

Many of the tributaries on the southern shore of Lake Ontario are popular fishing spots, with large salmon and trout making their annual spawning runs. Orleans County has several tributaries that are popular with anglers. The Oak Orchard River is considered one of the best in the state, Lenox said.

The crew from Rush Outdoors spent Thursday filming in the county, with most of the footage shot from the Archer’s Club along the Oak Orchard River. Lenox said it was ideal with the leaves falling and men in waders reeling in numerous big fish.

The Oak Orchard River in the fall provides lots of good footage for a TV show on the outdoors.

Andrus is the host of the show and he provides the highlights from different areas of the state. He tries to promote outdoors activities during all four seasons. He has highlighted the fall fishery in Orleans County, and also has filmed in the summer from the county – that time on a charter boat.

“This is my passion,” Andrus said. “I love the outdoors.”

Andrus works full-time as a corrections officer at the Orleans Correctional Facility in Albion. He has been fishing since he was a kid when he would rent a rowboat and catch small-mouth bass at Point Breeze.

Now he is having adventures around the state and beyond, inviting viewers to join him while he fishes and hunts.

Lenox said Andrus has proven popular with viewers.

“Tim is one of the most likable people you’ll ever meet,” Lenox said. “He represents the sponsors and the show really well.”

Rush Outdoors wants to show that bountiful fishing and hunting resources in New York, including the stream fishing in Orleans County.

Andrus has contacts in the outdoors industry. He has been on staff with Realtree, a company that sells camouflage products, since 1996. He speaks at events and makes appearances at stores all over the country.

When Andrus and Lenox were pushing to launch the show last year, they needed sponsors. Andrus pitched the idea to Orleans County tourism officials. They signed on. It has proven a good fit, said Mike Waterhouse, the county’s sportsfishing coordinator.

“From the Orleans County standpoint, we were looking to get on television at a reasonable price,” he said.

The county has a 30-second commercial that airs on the show and also has been regularly featured as part of Rush Outdoors.

Andrus is pleased with the momentum and growing audience for the show, which is now in 4 million homes in New York.

“Our goal is to go national,” he said.

For more on Rush Outdoors, click here.

Anglers are lined up in the Oak Orchard River by the Archer’s Club.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MIDDLEPORT – The tugboat and a barge rest in front of a canal bridge. That is dominant image of a mural on a Middleport building. The artwork was added to the community just west of the Orleans County line in 2007.

Albion native Stacey Kirby created that mural and two others: a train depot between Main and Vernon streets that was torn down in the 1960s while the other scene depicts the building (in a different era) at the corner of Main and State streets, where the mural is painted.

Above the three scenes Kirby painted the community’s motto: “Middleport, NY a friendly community.”

I was in Middleport last evening to do a story on the Lake Plains Players’ production of Les Miserables. I had a few minutes to spare and wanted to check out Kirby’s artwork. She has some others in this canal village as well.

I’m hoping we can come up with a project for her in Albion. She said she wants to do one in her hometown.

Albion native Stacey Kirby created the artwork

Photo courtesy of Stacey Kirby – The Brockport community on Saturday celebrated the installation and unveiling of a new 20- by 8-foot mural highlighting the Brockport community in 1914-1916 when the canal was widened. The mural is on the DPW Building at 38 East Ave.

BROCKPORT – A former nondescript building on East Avenue, the village of Brockport’s DPW garage, now displays a striking painting that highlights one of Brockport’s most ambitious public works projects: the widening the Erie Canal in 1914-1916.

Albion native Stacey Kirby created the mural that is 20 feet wide and 8 feet high. On Saturday, the artwork was dedicated.

Kirby referenced historic photos from the massive project in creating the mural. She incorporated the old technology of moving freight along the canal with mule-drawn boats with the new technology of the day, steam engines that powered the steam shovel in the painting.

She has a worker in the foreground holding a shovel. (Kirby took a photo of a barista at a coffee shop in Rochester as a model for the worker. She usually picks family and friends as her models in the murals.)

Kirby has two murals in Albion inside the Lyceum for the Catholic Church on Main Street.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Shane Smith and his son Ben, 8, hold one of the big salmon Ben caught today in the Oak Orchard River.

“You have it here in terms of variety, quantity and size.” – – Fisherman Bob Mathieu of Slippery Rock, Pa.

The Oak Orchard River draws a lot of fishermen, but it isn’t nearly as packed as the Salmon River in Pulaski. The Oak Orchard anglers don’t like fishing in big crowds.

WATERPORT – Matty Mathieu puts in on his calendar every year. He will spend a week at Waterport fishing in the Oak Orchard River.

Mathieu, 81, travels from Merced, California. He joins his son and Mathieu’s brother for the fishing getaway.

“If you want to catch big fish this is where you come,” Mathieu said today after a day’s fishing.

His brother Bob told him about the Oak Orchard. They also fish in Olcott and the Salmon River in Pulaski. The south shore of Lake Ontario has many great fishing holes, the brothers said.

They like the Oak Orchard because of the quality of the fishery, and it doesn’t draw nearly the masses that converge at the Salmon River.

“You have it here in terms of variety, quantity and size,” said Bob Mathieu, who lives in Slippery Rock, Pa. “It’s a well-kept secret but it’s getting out.”

Melvin McMillion works his way up the river while pulling a string with a Chinook salmon.

The Mathieus are competing in a fly fishing tournament sponsored by St. Mary’s Archer’s Club. It runs until Friday and awards prizes for the biggest Chinook salmon, Atlantic salmon, brown trout and steelhead.

The tournament has 61 participants and the vast majority are out-of-state anglers, with many from Pennsylvania.

Melvin McMillon has been coming up from Yorktown, Pa., for weekly trips for six years. He said the fly fishermen are courteous to each other while they fish by the Archer’s Club.

“It’s fun and down here there is a lot of respect,” he said.

Doug Shiffert drove up from Nazareth, Pa., to fish in the Oak Orchard River.

The fishermen said the fish so far this year don’t seem as plentiful as in the past. They attributed that to the warm fall.

“Once it gets colder, there will be more fish,” said Shane Smith, 38, who drives about 300 miles from near Harrisburg to fish the Oak Orchard.

Smith is part of a three-generation fishing family that makes the trek. His son and father also enjoy the Oak. Shane’s son Ben, 8, was the star today, landing a half dozen 15- to 20-pound Chinook.

Shane has been coming for the weekly fishing outings since 1989. He has made many friends with people all over the country.

“There’s people a lot farther away than us who come here,” he said.

Smith said it’s ultimately about the fishing. He wants to catch big fish.

“We’ve been coming here so long because we always have good luck here.”

The salmon will jump and stop right next to the anglers. The annual fishing run hasn’t quite hit its peak because of the warm temperatures, but there are still a lot of fish in the river.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman

MEDINA – This squirrel had a “squirrel’s-eye view” while having his dinner nut in a tree next to Vets Park. The squirrel watched the Medina boys soccer team upset league leader Akron 1-0 today. Check out the local sports section for the rest of the story about the game.

Photos by Tom Rivers – The water isn’t too deep on the western tributary of the Oak Orchard River near the Waterport Dam.

WATERPORT – I’ve been hoping to write about Friday’s journey into the woods along the Oak Orchard River in search of the remnants of the trestle and two bridges that have long been gone.

Brandon Blount led me through the woods and we found support walls, steel girders and lots of stone from the bridges. The trestle’s stone bases are hard to miss.

I have a lot of photos from the journey and I’ve decided to break up the stories. I hope to have the trestle and the bridges on the Hub sometime tomorrow.

For now, you can meet two shaggy ink cap mushrooms that were growing a few feet from the base of the trestle in the woods near Clark Mills Road.

Blount, 35, grew up nearby and often ventured into the woods with his grandfather, the late Don “Cookie” Cook of Medina. (I worked with Cookie briefly when I started my newspaper career back in 1996 with the former Albion Advertiser. Cookie worked in the darkroom for The Journal-Register in Medina. I had to stop by once or twice a week so Cookie could develop some of my photos. This was in the pre-digital photography days.)

Blount has a growing collection of photos of mushrooms, flora and fauna. He has about 70 different types of fungi captured on camera. He likes to get their different growing stages as well.

Blount knows the Oak Orchard River and the woods. I didn’t realize the river splits in two near the Waterport Dam before connecting near the Archer’s Club. Most of the fishermen prefer the east end, where the water is a little deeper, and the river moves faster. That makes it more attractive for the big salmon that come up in the fall to lay their eggs.

But the west river draws some fish. We didn’t see any fishermen on the west river near the dam. There were about a dozen dead fish in the water. They spawned and then died. That’s what they do in their life cycle. If they had come up on the east side, they probably would have been caught by the many anglers.

The waterfall by the dam is bigger than it looks from a distance. Get up close and I bet it’s 75 feet in height, maybe bigger.

I should have more tomorrow on the trestle and the old bridges.

Photos by Tom Rivers

WATERPORT – Late on Friday afternoon and the parking lot was nearly full at the Waterport Dam, one of the county’s most popular fishing spots.

I saw more license plates from Pennsylvania than New York. There were vehicles from Ohio, Rhode Island and Virginia as well as New York in the lot.

Fishing is Orleans County’s top tourism draw, and it tends to be a year-round business. Point Breeze was named “The Ultimate Fishing Town” in 2013 by the World Fishing Network.

The fall salmon fishing runs, when the big fish move from the lake to the tributaries, draws a crowd of anglers. Many wade into the waters and they say the fish will bump into their legs.

The spell of warm weather this past week has fewer fish than usual in the Oak Orchard at this time of the year. That’s what some of the anglers told me today. One guy from Pennsylvania said he would come back in a week.

But there were lots of big fish being caught. I saw many strung up in the water, and others stacked in a wagon.

I was back at the dam to go hiking for remnants of the old Waterport Trestle and two bridges that are long gone from the Oak Orchard. I should have a story later on the discoveries. The bottom two photos show the stone pillars and supports that were used at the bottom of the trestle.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman

LYNDONVILLE – Several hundred geese joined a flock of swans on Johnson’s Creek on Tuesday afternoon. The geese were active on the water, and took a break sunning themselves on the grass.

They will soon be heading South with winter lurking on the calendar.

Photos by Tom Rivers – A tugboat named Seneca approaches the Main Street lift bridge in Albion this morning. The tugboat then passed underneath and headed east.

ALBION – Tugboat fans in Orleans County are getting a chance to see an unfamiliar vessel today. The Tugboat Seneca is passing through our waters, heading east.

The tugboat, built in 1932, is filling in for the Tugboat Urger, with has been dry-docked for repairs. The Urger is the Canal Corporation’s floating classroom, making stops along the system for public tours and visits from fourth-graders learning about state history.

With the Urger out of commission, the Seneca was called into duty as the canal’s educational ambassador. The tug is typically based out of the Syracuse area.

The Seneca just completed its educational mission in Tonawanda and is headed to Fairport.

The Canal Corp. has biography sketches of the tugboats on its web site (Visit www.tug44.org/canal.corp.boats/tug-seneca/ to see more photos and information about the Seneca.) The tugboat was built 81 years ago by Electric Boat Corp for the Navy. She was designated YTL-479 (Yard Tug, Light) and worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She was bought by state DOT in 1960 and is now owned by Canal Corp.

The canal is scheduled to stay open until Nov. 15, when the 363-mile-long canal will then be drained and the lift bridges closed.