Trip 2: Lockport and Childs

Date: Thursday, July 13, 2023

Events/Locations:

• Cruise through the BIG locks over the Niagara Escarpment
• Enjoy a buffet luncheon at Lockport Locks and Erie Canal Cruises
• Tour the historic buildings at the Cobblestone Society in Childs, NY

Registration has closed for this trip.

Non-member guests must create an Osher online account in order to register for trips.

After you register, open the registration confirmation email you will receive, then click on the link within the email to fill out the questionnaire specific to this trip.

Some walking and standing is involved. Dress for the weather — rain or shine. Wear comfortable walking shoes. If you need a cane or walker, please bring one and use it. Don’t forget your camera. This trip is NOT wheelchair accessible.

Lockport Locks

Time to have a relaxing historical cruise! Lockport is home to the only original part of the canal that is left – the famous “Flight of Five” locks. These locks are immediately adjacent to the modern Barge Canal and its only double-locks. The 200 year old Flight of Five consecutive locks made the entire canal possible in the days before steel and electric motor. The wooden locks could only each hold back water to a 12-foot drop.  The modern Barge Canal which we cruise on was opened in 1918 and the motors that open and close the lock doors are a century old.

Lunch

We will enjoy the 3-entree Lunch Buffet at the Canalside Banquet Room. It includes a fresh garden salad, carved roast beef and turkey, deli-style corned beef accompanied by mashed potatoes with gravy, pasta station, maple-glazed carrots, apple & cranberry sauces, breadsticks, desert and coffee station. The chef will be happy to discuss any special requests to meet dietary restrictions. If you have special dietary needs, please indicate so on the registration questionnaire.

Cobblestone Museum

The museum consists of eight major historic buildings. The Cobblestone Church (1834) is the oldest of its kind on masonry (1825-1860) in North America, a construction primarily found in New York State. Next to the church is a cobblestone house once owned by famous publisher Horace Greeley. These are furnished to show how they would be in the 1880's. A third cobblestone building is the Gaines schoolhouse made in 1849 of small lake-washed stones. There are also four wooden trades buildings and a brick house serving as a resource center.

On Tuesday, July 11 at 10 am all members are invited to a free lecture, featuring two speakers: Doug Farley came to be the Director of the Cobblestone Museum by being open to new opportunities in life. A part-time job he held while studying for his Electrical Engineering degree at the University of Buffalo led to him being co-owner of a local Supermarket. The Civil War Sword he inherited led him to research his ancestry with the Niagara Historical Society, and that led to a 10-year stint on their Board of Directors. At the end of his term, they asked him to create the Erie Canal Discovery Center in Lockport. As Director he ran a regular “Erie Canal Discovery” column in the Medina Journal-Register, full of fascinating stories about the canal. His success in bringing the Canal Museum into being led to a similar request from Peoples, Inc to create The Museum of Disability History in Buffalo. After creating two new Museums from scratch, becoming Director of the Cobblestone Museum is a comparatively less stressful post-retirement job, taken out of love for Orleans County History.

Our second speaker, Joell Murney-Karsten, brings a depth of construction, communication, and project management expertise to her job for the New York State Canal Corp. A native of Waterloo and graduate of SUNY Albany, she moved to Boston to attend the New England School of Law. She stayed to work on Boston’s Central Artery Tunnel Project, “The Big Dig”, supervising a team of engineers, and coordinating their work with the Mass. DOT. She taught college courses and developed her own consulting business in Quincy, Massachusetts before returning to central New York as a Community Outreach Specialist/Manager for the del Lago Resort and Casino. As Chair of the Seneca Falls Board of Directors and a board-member for the Seneca Falls Historical Society she had key roles in both the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the 19th Amendment and the $10 million Downtown Development Initiative. She continues to serve on the Seneca Falls Board of Education in her latest role as the Manager of Community Relations for the New York State Canal Corp.

(hybrid format - attend in person at Osher or via Zoom)

Click here to register for this lecture!