GLIN==> Press release: Great Lakes Seaway Trail maritime heritage poster goes to school in NY and PA

PRESS RELEASE & SIDEBARS:  September 30, 2009
Jpg available by reply request
Contacts:  Teresa Mitchell, Seaway Trail, Inc., 315-646-1000; Jay Boak,
Board of Cooperative Education Services, 315-779-7012
 
Great Lakes Seaway Trail Maritime Heritage Poster Goes to School in NY and
PA
 
Sackets Harbor, NY (09-30-2009) - Where did the first battle of the War of
1812 take place? Who sold Irondequoit Bay to the English? How did early
travelers navigate around Niagara Falls?

Are there really one thousand 1,000 Islands? Which Oswego County waterbody
is also named Heh-Hah-Wa-Gah? What were the top commodities shipping into
Little Sodus Bay in 1891? What role did Lake Erie play in the early maritime
history of New York and Pennsylvania?

The new fact-filled, 17 inch x 44 inch, color, illustrated Great Lakes
Seaway Trail Maritime Heritage poster has the answers. Ten thousand (10,000)
of the posters are now in public schools and BOCES systems in the 11
counties along the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, Niagara River and Lake
Erie in NY and PA. 

St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Oswego, Cayuga, Wayne, Monroe, Orleans, Niagara,
Erie and Chautauqua counties in New York state and Erie County, PA, comprise
the 518-mile coastal region of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail. The leisure
driving, and boating, route is one of America¹s Byways, a National
Recreation Trail, a state byway in New York and Pennsylvania, and a New York
State Bicycle Route.

The Federal Highway Administration and a New York State Scenic Byway grants
administered by the New York State Department of Transportation provided
funding for the posters that are an adjunct to the Great Lakes Seaway Trail
Shipwrecks Project that recently received a 2009 National Scenic Byway Award
for resource interpretation. (The project earned a New York State Governor¹s
Adventure Tourism Award and an Upstate History Alliance commendation in
2008.)

U.S. Congressman Louise M. Slaughter (NY-28th District), who represents the
Rochester, Niagara Falls and Buffalo areas of the 518-mile-long byway, says,
³The Great Lakes Seaway Trail National Scenic Byway provides diverse
resources to students, families and travelers for experiencing the singular
historic, natural and recreational resources that are found only along New
York¹s freshwater shoreline. Placing this maritime heritage poster in our
schools is a great way to encourage learning and, as families explore along
the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, our communities from Rochester to Niagara
Falls and Buffalo and beyond will realize the economic benefit of
educational tourism.²

The posters have been distributed to public schools and Board of Cooperative
Education Services (BOCES) systems. The region¹s homeschoolers may request a
copy of the poster by visiting the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center
in Sackets Harbor, NY, or the Lake Erie Seaway Trail Visitor Center in
Hamburg, NY.

Jefferson-Lewis BOCES District Superintendent Jack J. Boak says, ³The Great
Lakes Maritime Heritage poster is a great new learning resource that not
only excites our students about history but has the added value of informing
them that the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway is a road to learning
adventures in their own backyard.²

Keli M. DiRisio of One Smart Cookie Productions in Victor, NY, (in the Great
Lakes Seaway Trail¹s Monroe County) developed and designed the poster.

"This poster was a great project to work on as I learned so much about our
area and its history. I think this poster will be a worthwhile learning tool
to post in classrooms as students will gain a new appreciation for the area
in which they live. I am excited to hear feedback from both teachers and
students!" DiRisio says.

Great Lakes Seaway Trail President and CEO Teresa Mitchell adds that
travelers will discover more facts on the more than 100 Great Lakes Seaway
Trail ³Outdoor Storyteller² interpretive panels located at significant
destination point on the byway. She says, ³The new Great Lakes Seaway Trail
Maritime Heritage poster promotes travel along the 518-mile length of the
byway to significant waterfront destinations. The Great Lakes Seaway Trail
Outdoor Storytellers at those sites form a fresh air Œ24/7 museum¹ that
provides travelers and youth with fun educational facts, the legends and
lore associated with our coastal region¹s historic, maritime, cultural and
natural resources.²

Learn more at www.seawaytrail.com or call 315-646-1000. #

Three Sidebar Options:
·      Poster part of award-winning project
·      Diving the Seaway Trail encourages maritime theme travel
·      Notable Ships & Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail

Poster part of award-winning project  -  The ³2007 Shipwrecks of the Great
Lakes Seaway Trail Project² that put a spotlight on the maritime heritage
resources of the 518-mile coastal region of the St. Lawrence River, Lake
Ontario, Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York and Pennsylvania received a
2009 Scenic Byway Award for Interpretation during the 2009 National Scenic
Byways Conference in Denver, Colorado, in August.  The award, sponsored by
the America¹s Byways Resource Center, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),
and the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials
(AASHTO, was presented to project partners: the Great Lakes Seaway Trail,
New York Sea Grant and New York State Scenic Byways Program.

Diving the Seaway Trail encourages maritime theme travel  -  The Great Lakes
Seaway Trail Maritime Heritage project includes Dive the Seaway Trail
program that encourage divers, history buffs and travelers to explore the
full length of the freshwater byway to discover ³only-found-here²
shipwrecks, 28 historic lighthouses and maritime museums. The Dive the
Seaway Trail project, coordinated by New York Sea Grant, Oswego, NY,
involves local community-based stewardship of historic dive sites and
underwater landscapes accessed from the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway.
Scuba divers represent an annual economic impact of more than $108 million
to NY¹s Great Lakes Seaway Trail region (New York Sea Grant). Dive the
Seaway Trail is part of the New York State Blueway Trail project that is
linking submerged heritage preserves with recreational opportunities, local
heritage attractions, greenways and byways statewide. #

Notable Ships & Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail
Among the notable shipwrecks of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail are:
... David W. Mills - New York State¹s first Submerged Cultural Preserve in
Lake Ontario, a 202-foot steambarge that sank in 1919, Oswego, NY
... Hundreds of shipwrecks in Lake Erie¹s Eastern Basin ­ begin at Dunkirk,
NY
... Islander ­ 1871 wooden sidewheel steamer burned & sank near Alexandria
Bay
... St. Peter ­ 135-foot, three-masted schooner rests (since 1898) intact
and upright in the deep water of Lake Ontario, Pultneyville, NY
... HMS Ontario, British sloop-of-war sank in Lake Ontario on October 31,
1780, during the Revolutionary War.

Among the notable ships still cruising the waters of the Great Lakes Seaway
Trail:
... Maid of the Mist taking tourists to see Niagara Falls since 1854
(started in 1846 as U.S.-Canada ferry service), Niagara Falls, NY
... World War II military vessels at Buffalo Erie County Military & Naval
Park, Buffalo, NY
... LT-5 Tugboat ³Nash² - one of the last remaining tugboats from the WWII
Normandy Invasion, now dockside at H. Lee White Marine Museum, Oswego, NY
... The Flagship Niagara ­ historic replica War of 1812 tall ship whose home
harbor is Erie, PA (Seaway Trail Pennsylvania)
...  A world-class collection of antique raceboats and classic watercraft at
The Antique Boat Museum, Clayton, NY

And more! See for yourself! Plan your trip at www.seawaytrail.com,
800-SEAWAY-T. #

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