PRESS RELEASE

CANAL DAY RESCHEDULED TO OCT. 23
DUE TO RAIN

HISTORY LECTURES about MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS and CHILD LABOR ON THE CANAL, FOLK SINGERS OFFERING CANAL SONGS, A MULE AND TABLES OF WARES CARRIED ON THE CANAL and an INTERPRETIVE WALK ON THE FORMER CANAL ROUTE

ACCORD – Predicted heavy rains for Oct. 16 forced the rescheduling of the Town of Rochester Historic Preservation Commission’s Canal Day to 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Veteran’s Park Pavilion by Town Hall, 50 Scenic Drive, Accord.

D&H Canal Society Historian Bill Merchant will give a talk at 11:15 a.m. at the Town Hall Pavilion about the marginalized populations who worked on the D&H Canal, followed by Jack Schoonmaker, Community Elder, sharing family stories of the canal.

A mule will be on site, along with a history interpreter to describe the animal’s important role in canal operations and display some of the products carried on the D & H Canal.

Folk singers Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle present songs of the canal era at 12:15 p.m. at the pavilion, followed by Sarah Underhill.

A Canal Hike with historian Bill Merchant starts at 1 p.m. at the trail head near town hall to see vestiges of the canal, towpath, bridge abutments and more. The level-ground hike takes about two hours but hikers can turn back at any time. Hardy hikers who plan to do the whole route can stage carpool vehicles at the Kerhonkson end of the trail for a lunch at the new Mill & Main Cafe before riding back to town hall.

The event is sponsored by the Rochester Historic Preservation Commission and Friends of Historic Rochester and is free of charge.

For more information, call HPC chair Wilton Duckworth, 845-626-2161.