Category Archives: Volunteering

Celebrate!

20 Monday Oct 2025

Posted by in Event, Folklore, Historic Assets, Telling the Byway Stories, Volunteering

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This year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Erie Canal. The Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway parallels the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal between Waterford, Cohoes, and Schenectady. One of the strongest intrinsic values of our Byway is history. This provided an ideal opportunity to publicize the Byway and its connection to the waterway west.

Although the communities have been drumming the beat of the anniversary all year, the actual opening of the canal from Albany to Buffalo occurred in late October 1825. Major commemorative celebrations started with the construction of a replica of the Seneca Chief at the Buffalo Maritime Center several years ago. During the World Canal Conference held the last week in September the Seneca Chief, in a grand celebration left Buffalo Harbor for a re-enacted journey across the Erie Canal to New York City. Stopping at major historic canal ports along the way, the crew collected samples of water to pour in New York harbor like Governor Clinton did 200 years ago. On its journey to New York City the packet boat stopped at Schenectady on October 14 to provide tours to the public and educational field trip opportunities for local school children, bringing history to life.

Seneca Chief passes Ferry Drive in Clifton Park. – Photos by Eric Hamilton

Meanwhile, the Town of Clifton Park held a well attended Canal Festival in the hamlet of Vischer Ferry on the weekend of October 11 and 12. The weekend included a dedication of historic marker, a parade, food vending, military re-enactors, historically popular youth games, historic trade demonstrations, working canal lock model, tours of historic structures, hay rides to a historic lock, antique car show, folks songs on the Canal, a presentation by local historic artist Len Tantillo, and a stage performance of historic narrative and song The Remarkable, Irresistible Erie directed by Andy Spence.

History records that cannons were fired along the canal to signal the approach of the Seneca Chief 200 years ago and was an important way of telegraphing the opening of the original Erie Canal before the telegraph, telephone, or internet. Following suit this fall, anyone who owns a canon or has access to a historic military device put it to a constructive use! Locally a group of re-enactors of the Albany Militia gathered to fire their canon as the Seneca Chief approached Ferry Drive in Clifton Park.

The Town of Halfmoon provided Live music, picnic fair, and ceremony by noted dignitaries as the boat tied up at Terminal Road dock so the crew had a pitstop before descending the flight of the locks into Waterford Harbor. Here too, a canon was fired as the Seneca Chief moved on toward the Flight of Locks on Waterford.

The boat spent the day tied up at Waterford Harbor providing tours to the public and several large groups of school children from various Capital District schools. The crew provided educators that did an impressive job with program geared to grade school youth as they toured the interior of the Seneca Chief, planted a pine tree and explaining the perspective of indigenous people as the Erie Canal cut through native lands.

This series of events underscored the historic intrinsic value of the Mohawk Towpath Byway in a very real, tangible way where any number of lectures could never achieve. This history lesson conveyed to school children, to families, and older adults could not have been better or more appropriately conveyed.

Thank you to all of the town historians; local, regional, and state officials; along with all our volunteers for their cooperation in highlighting this milestone on the Erie Canal now as we reshape the canal’s purpose from a commercial asset that built the Empire State to a recreation asset we all can enjoy whether from shore or from the perspective on the water.

Story Telling

16 Friday Jun 2023

Posted by in Bringing Tourists to the Byway, Folklore, Mohawk Towpath, Telling the Byway Stories, tourism experience, Volunteering

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(As published in the National Scenic Byway Foundation e-newsletter.)

As an ambassador for our Byway, the most common and often used technique is my elevator speech.  It takes about ten seconds to say, “The Mohawk Towpath Byway is a driving route between Waterford and Cohoes and Schenectady here in New York that follows the historic route of the Erie Canal and the waterway west.”

It is an attention grabber.  The first few lines of our website, an introduction to an indoor lecture, outdoor wayside tour, or the first lines on a bus tour.  It is much better than saying, “Test. Test. Is this mic on?”

What the visitor to your byway is going to remember is this personal contact and this first impression.  Make it a good one. Smile, be sincere, enthuse with body language that adds to the feeling of authenticity.  Be ready for the follow-up question like, “Is it a bike path?” Or “What’s the story here?” Or “Where’s the nearest public restroom?” Or “Do you have a map?”

Tour host and historian John Scherer narrates a story on the Mohawk Towpath Byway. Note his leaning into the audience, gesture, and enthusiasm that all add to the authenticity of the story. [ Note that John is also holding the book he authored, Images of America: Clifton Park. Tell me that doesn’t add to the authenticity!]

What is your byway elevator speech?  Can you say it in your sleep?

For help with your elevator speech visit Storytelling in Person, a factsheet in our NSBF Resource Library.

Invasive Species

21 Saturday May 2022

Posted by in Nature along the Byway, stewardship, Volunteering

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Over crowded vegetation has become a problem around the main entrance to the Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve. It is so thick that observation of the open marsh lands is impossible: impossible to see and even more challenging to interpret. The first stop on the Byway’s self-guided birding trail is engulfed in a “jungle” of vines held up by a mass of sufficated dead trees and brush.

In this “before” Jeff Slater and Paul Olund stand near a mass of foliage with the main “old town road” trail seen behind them on the left. This is just south of the Whipple Bridge. The yellow survey tape is meant to mark the area where a number of invasive species including Asian bittersweet, multi floral rose, and honeysuckle have taken over. An occasional grape vine adds to the interwoven and braided mass. The red peaking through the foliage to the right is a chain link fence gate post that was historically closed during flood conditions. This is a “before” picture.

After about three hours of work with pruning shears, garden racks, machete, bow saws, and other hand tools five of us were able to open up a twenty foot wide panorama around STOP 31. Some of the work was on hands and knees, even on our butts!

This is intended as a demonstration project. No attempt was made to prevent regrowth. Continued cutting is anticipated to keep this area open. Our experience here will factor into the stewardship chapter in the Corridor Management Plan. It is obvious that we will not prevent continued spread of these invasives, but perhaps we can better understand the dynamics of their growth and ways to control their spread. The crew includes Jeff Slater, Mary MacDonald, Nancy Papish, Eric Hamilton, and Paul Olund captured this image.

And a special thanks to Nancy Papish who remembered water. The building heat even on an early spring day was oppressive.

UPDATE JUL 2:

I brought a weedwacker to the site and mowed over the regrowth of bittersweet. I also noticed some emergent fern, thistle, and a couple of burdock shoots. I think the idea of over-seeding with native wildflower species after future spring cut-back is a good one.

Before
After

I spent the better part of an hour in the stand of Japanese Knotweed hacking out a sixty square foot area and generated over 50 pounds of debris. I will dispose of this in the garbage. If we are going to make a dent in this we have to attack it earlier in the season with repeated cuttings (try on a monthly basis?) during the growing season.

Finale

09 Sunday Aug 2020

Posted by in Bringing Tourists to the Byway, Mohawk Towpath, Recreation, stewardship, Uncategorized, Volunteering

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Or is it a new beginning?

Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway installed the final of a dozen interpretive kiosks envisioned in the Byway’s Corridor Management Plan almost twenty years ago. It started out as a cool, cloudy Saturday. Two hours later the job was done and the posts set plumb and true, ready for the first eye curious about our agricultural heritage or about recreation on the Mohawk.

Innovation was the watch word for this kiosk. Federal Byway funds were dwindling and we needed a less expensive way to produce the panels. Metal panels were used with a graffiti resistant finish. These panels were glued to an exterior plywood with a urethane based caulk. The panels were then mounted in a frame of cedar.

Once in place in two excavated post holes the holes were backfilled with an expanding foam backfill. Bill Gutelius steadied the kiosk for a critical 15 minutes while the backfill set. Nancy Papish maintained an eye on the vertical plumb bubble.

This kiosk is located in Mohawk Landing Preserve on the southern boundary of Riverview Orchards on Riverview Road in Rexford. Check it out on your next visit to the Byway. The spot is quite accessible just a short walk from the parking lot, at the end of the first board walk. You can see the kiosk from the entrance (note the handicap parking space in the foreground and the kiosk just to Nancy Papish’s right in the background.

Besides Nancy Papish’s help We are most grateful for Bill Gutelius’ assistance with construction of the frame, and hauling the finished kiosk assembly to the site. In short this kiosk installation cost about half the cost of conventional polycarbonate resin panels with square aluminum frame.

Spring is Coming…

07 Saturday Mar 2020

Posted by in Byway Administration, Recreation, stewardship, Telling the Byway Stories, Uncategorized, Volunteering

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As the snow and ice retreats we are starting to plan our activities and projects for the coming year. We have a limited budget but several low cost projects include…

The foot bridge on the 1825 towpath trail just west of the Water Authority Access Road in the Vischer Ferry Preserve. The deck needs work so that it is safe for pedestrian, mountain bike, and light trail maintenance equipment.

Friends of the Byway clean up ready for the summer season.

Interpretive Signs within the Vischer Ferry Preserve need to be cleaned. These are lacquered metal panels that tend to attract a grimy dark film over the years that needs to be washed and waxed with a quality automotive wax. We have done this in past years as a “flash mob” activity.

Self Guided Tour needs to be updated; narratives shortened so not to loose audience and add historic photos to bring the history of the site to life. We also need to add archived Erie Blvd narratives.

Wayfinding Signs need to be replaced. After 10 years some of the signs have faded, especially the south facing signs. This will start by inventorying the signs that need to be replaced and then working with the Town Highway Departments to install the replacements.

Duathlon planning is high on our priority list. This event highlights the recreational features of the Byway and provides a substantial amount of the organization’s revenue. We need sponsors and volunteers to pitch in to make this a success!

Writing and photography helps provide content for this blog as well as publicity and keeping our fellow volunteers energized and informed. Volunteering to “man” our booth at various functions provides an opportunity to “meet our public.”

Building a frame and installing an interpretive sign at the Mohawk Landing Park in Rexford. This will round out the interpretive signs envisioned 20 years ago when the Corridor Management Plan was prepared. The panels described our agricultural heritage and growing leisure time during the Industrial Revolution.

Baking healthy snacks for our work details, meetings, and events is always appreciated and helps keep the enthusiasm and energy flowing.

Roadside Cleanups twice a year where you live or work helps keep the Byway attractive for our visitors. Adopt a segment of roadway and take credit with a sign that recognizes your stewardship.

If you would like to help out with any one of these projects please let us know. Obviously some may have better appeal than others and you are certainly allowed to “cherry pick” the one or two that most appeal to you!

Comment: An informal poll of active members the Friends listed the above projects in order of priority.

  • Repair footbridge (done early April)
  • Cleaning interpretive signs (done April 14)
  • Planning Duathlon (unfortunately canceled June 9)
  • Building a Frame for interpretive sign (design complete Apr 28, Installation completed August 10)
  • Replacing Faded Wayfinding signs (inventory under way)
  • Up Dating the Self-Guided Tour (two sites added another one edited)
  • Writing and Photography (continuing)
  • Roadside Cleanups (unfortunately didn’t get done this year) and
  • Refreshments for meetings and work crews (Moved to virtual meetings).

Three write-in activities included develop public access along the Byway in new locations, partnering with other groups to do joint projects and events, and representing the Byway in the National Scenic Byway Foundation.

– added by Eric Hamilton, Apr 13, 2020.

– Updated August 29, 2020.

2018 Annual Report

29 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by in Byway Administration, Mohawk Towpath, Partners, stewardship, Telling the Byway Stories, Volunteering

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While wrapping up reports and other administrative requirements of the Byway and the two organizations that are the backbone of our community

  • The Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway, and
  • The Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway Coalition

…we have developed a 2018 Annual Report that you can view here. It was prepared for municipal officials within the Byway corridor, as a thank you to our volunteers for a successful year, and as a tool to help tell the story of the Byway to the general public. If you do not receive your copy of the 2018 Annual Report by mid February send a request for a copy.

This is a collage of a number of successes we had on the Mohawk Towpath Byway this year.

Were you a part of it? If you were thank you for the help. If you were not please act now to make your place on the Mohawk Towpath Byway in 2019! Join the friends of the Byway while the year is young. Click here!

Byway Achievements

18 Tuesday Dec 2018

Posted by in Nature along the Byway, recreational assets, Volunteering

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A discussion around the table at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway came up with surprising results.  The question was, “What were the greatest achievements on the Byway this year?”

HolidaySwag

First up, Ruth related the story that at the Duathlon registration when her husband met an individual recovering from a similar medical condition as his.  “The two of them are helping each other through recovery.”

Paul said, “I became more familiar with the features within the Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve.”  He also added that fellow volunteer Chris had used a personal GPS devise to map trails in the Preserve and proceeded to color blaze the individual trails to match the mapping.

 “Volunteers Chris and Joanne have painted a mural on the other side of the Whipple bridge aerial photo,” added Sue. “Their mural names and color codes the trails. Additionally Chris created directional signs at entrances to the nature preserve and at trail intersections complete with trail names and distances. Most of the trails have color coded discs on trees.”

Eric is proud of the Story Telling Summit that the Friends of the Byway helped host in late spring.  We had folks attend from as far away as the mid west U S. It was the consensus around the table that we should do something similar next year.

Mary reported that she had given a tour of the Byway to a group of 7 or 8 hikers.  They all enjoyed the experience and hope to repeat it, perhaps in another area of the Byway.

Nancy shared a story that as she and Tracy were marshaling participants at the Duathlon, Tracy pointed out a coyote crossing a distant field.  Nancy continued her post, but later saw the coyote return across the ridge.

Maryanne shared a story of a visit to a historic building and had paused at the top of the stairs.  While she was there she felt a push toward the stairs as if  by a mischievous child, but no one was around.  That story was added to the folklore of the historic property which had, at one time, housed an orphanage.

Lara successfully completed the Duathlon, and has always been impressed by the enthusiasm of the volunteers who host the event.  She is looking forward to competing again next year.

During Farm Fest weekend Larry helped a visitor discover nearby Clutes Dry Dock by accessing the Byway tour on the visitor’s cell phone.  The visitor was compelled to check out other features along the Byway corridor during the weekend.  The self guided tour feature makes it easy to discover the Byway at your own pace and on your own time.

These individual observations illustrate the diverse interests on the Byway and the collection of resources that make the Mohawk Towpath Byway such a unique place to live, to visit and to share with the outside world.  What stands out in your mind as a special resource along the waterway west?