FLC
Membership
Dues
Increase
January of this
year, FLC members unanimously voted to increase FLC's annual membership
dues from $lO./yr. to $15./yr. The increase, along with income from newsletter
advertising, will fully cover the cost of the newsletter and stationary
(paper, envelopes, ink jet printing cartridges, label stock, postage, etc.)
needed for the fairly extensive correspondence associated with Chapter
operations. The new Chapter dues will appear on the ACBS renewal form for
1999.
Boat
Show at Corn Hill Arts Festival
by
TED TINKER AND ART RITTER
THECORN
ARTS FESTIVAL celebrated its 30th anniversary
July 1 l th and 12 th with the addition of an antique and classic boat
show. The festival drew an estimated 250,000 people, many of whom ventured
to the river-front Ienue to view beautifully restored vintage cars, listen
to a variety of music from the bandstand and run their eyes over glistening
mahogany runabouts. It was a trip down memory lane for many as we heard
comments about earlier days on the St. awrence and in the Adirondacks.
Show
organizer, Bob Roberts, a
Corn Hill resident, had hoped for an In-the-water display, but due to.heavy
rains prior to the show (which welled the river and caused an un acceptably
fast current), the boats Mere shown in a land display. City owned docks
sat empty as show organizers gathered signatures on a petition to be delivered
to city officials who have promised for years, aut as yet, have not ear-marked
Funds for river-front development. A major natural resource continues to
be under-utilized.
A
relaxed atmosphere, sunny skies,a great breeze, a hospitality tent and
plenty of shade greeted Bob & Ray
Mahar, Matt Sherrill, Mike Yonkers
and Ed
Ritter who
displayed their beautifully prepared boats. Many thanks to these folks
for their time and effort. The Finger Lakes Chapter and Wine Country Classic
Boats also benefited from the $800. (split according to participation by
chapter) received from the Festival organizers.
A
casual survey of participants indicated an interest in considering participation
again in 1999. This could become a terrific way for our chapters to generate
income in the future. Plans for Corn Hill 1999 will be underway in the
fall. As information becomes availble, we will share it with the membership
FLC's
1998 Fall Foliage Cruise
Saturday, September
26th -- a pleasant run down the Erie Canal to Baldwinsville and back
The
planned cruise will begin at 1O:00 AM from Midway Marina north of Weedsport
and retrace last year's course east through the canal and the southern
end of Cross Lake to Canal Lock No. 24 at Baldwinsvrille. We'll tie up
at the lock (without passing through it) for lunch at the Lock 24 Restaurant
which has several tables outdoors under um brellas where diners can enjoy
a view of lock operations.
A
boat is not necessary (we'll find room) and the Chapter will pick up launching
fees and lunch. So that we know what to count on, please give Alan
Breese a
call at 315-834-6229 (eve) with your plans.
First
Lady Drops In On the Knapps
IT'S
ALWAYS A BIT OF A SURPRISE WHEN guests drop in
unexpectedly or on short notice. But when its the
country's
First Lady, that does add a little drama to it all!
Such was
the case when Hi I I a r y Rodham Clinton
went to Seneca Falls, NY in June to participate
in the 150th Anniversary Celebration of the Women's Rights Movement. To
thank a number of people who had been traveling with her up the east coast
visiting historical sites, she held a luncheon at Knapp Vineyards, owned
and operated by FLC members, Doug &
Suzie Knapp, on Cayuga Lake. To
accomodate Mrs.Clinton's entourage of 70 and for security reasons, the
dining room had to be closed to all others. The
Vineyard staff smoothly handled the whole affair with a light luncheon
of soup, crabcakes and fruit. And although Suzie found the First Lady very
charming and gracious, she allowed that "she was glad she didn't have a
job like that!"
VIDEO
PROJECT/ FINGER LAKES CHAPTER A.C.B.S. COMING
SOON
STORY BOARD CLICK
HERE
VISIT
THE 1998 BOAT SHOW
NEW PHOTO'S AND CHATTER
CLICK HERE
Regarding lake navigation: The ancient history of navigation on Skaneateles would make mighty in teresting reading if it was (sic) obtainable. But there's the rub. The first vessel built for lake transportation was as I understood years ago, the outcome of the old project of canalizing the state and making the navigable lakes and streams tributaries of the Erie and other projected canals. Of course this scheme was evolved before the days of the railroads, and it stood in high favor for years after the first section of the New York Central Railroad - that running from Albany to Schenectady -- was built. And it should be remembered that the Central was a disjointed affair until 1854. As for the Erie Railway, after its conception in 1834, it existed princiIpally on paper.
What year the first
vessel was launched on Skaneateles Lake for transportation service, I cannot
say. Its name I have forgotten; but recall the fact that it was built of
the most approved tub model. Regarding its passenger and freight lists
in the early years, I have no knowledge; but in its later years its cargoes
consisted principally of cordwood, intended for the use of Skaneateles
villagers. This boat was perhaps 80 feet long
and schooner rigged.
Some time after this,
another "Independence," on account of being launched on a Fourth of July,
was
built at Skaneateles.
She was sloop rigged and carried lee boards to keep her up to the wind
when close hauled. I have been told that both boats were originally
designed for steam propulsion, but as I knew
them, they were
mere hulls innocent of any design for that mode of navigation
At that time Nicholas I. Roosevelt, who was connected with Robert Fulton's experiments, and who was the pioneer of steam boating on the Mississippi River, lived in Skaneateles, and it may be that some chance expression of his regarding the feasibility of converting them into steam boats may have given birth to the idea. The next venture was made when Captain Richworth Mason, a retired master of an East Indiaman, built the "Homer" some time about 1850. This boat was equipped with paddle wheels. The motive power was a horizontal engine. Her engineer for several years, Stephen H Delano, an areratic (sic) genius who fully understood the capabilities of a steam engine as such engines existed in those days. He was a brother of Howard B. Delano, who invented the first successful coal burning grate for a locomotive, and who for some years carried on a machine shop and foundry at Mottville.
What time the "Homer" made her first trip, I cannot say, as it was after I left Skaneateles in 1857, and there was a lapse of 16 years ere I visited the place again, and I might say that in 1873 was the last time I ever saw any of the Dodge family - Harrison B., his sons, Harrison B.Jr. and Frederick A., and daughter, Kate. In the early 1850s Glen Haven was noted as a great water cure establishment, conducted by Dr. James Jackson, who for some years later betook himself to Dansville, Livingston County, and opened a similar establishment there. Glen Haven was accessible only by water route from Skaneateles or else by a weary stage ride from Homer.
Glen Haven was an institution by itself. The regimen prescribed by Dr. Jackson was peculiar if not inspiring. The diet consisted manly ( graham bread with a small allowance of butter, eggs, and milk, together with copious ablutions of cold spring water externally and internally. Coffee, tea, cakes, and pies were strictly taboo. The feminine portion of the community wore bloomers. It was about that time that Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, former1 of Homer and then Seneca Falls, instituted her noted dress reform, while the men were garbed in "any old thing" that made comfort, even not strictly up to the tailors' fashion plates then in vogue.
When I visited Skaneateles
in1873 another boat had taken the place of the "Homer." It was a propeller,
commanded by Captain Sam Porter, at one time prominent in village affairs,
and a brother of
Grosvenor G. Porter,
who for a number of years commanded a trans-Atlantic liner
.
Captain Porter's
boat was not the first propeller on the lake, however although it was the
first of practical use. Some time during the forties Dr.
H. R. Lord, well known in those days, as well as in later years, as a promoter
of aquatic eccentricities, equipped a skiff with a propeller, screw,
as it was then termed, worked by hand power. On the first trial worked
successfully, but the apparatus gave out after five or six trial trips
and further experiments ceased. The late John
D. Barrow used to relate with great gusto comical tales of
Dr. Lord and his
"boat."
The above
first-person account of life on Skaneateles Lake about 1860 was recorded
in a letter from a former local resident and published the Cortland, NYDemocrat
on Sept 2, 1910. It was written by William
L. White, then of New Jersey. FLC member Donn
Booth saw
it and forwarded it to Brightwork when i was republished in an historical
column in
The Cortland
Sunday paper of January 11, 1998.
FINGER LAKES CHAPTER . ACBS
President
Scott Buehler (E) 3 15-834-6303 (D) 315-476-3075
First Vice President
Roger Townsend 315-635-9695
Second Vice President
Dana Ritchie (E) 617-275-6521 (D) 603-886-9202
Treasurer Shirley
Marsden (E) 315-253-7505 (D)
315-252-9506
Secretary Membership
& Newsletter Dick Sherwood
716-265-1518
1998 Boat Show Chairs
Susan
Buehler (E) 315-834-6303 (D) 315-476-3075
Arnie
Rubenstein (W) 315-637-8522 (S) 315-685-0353
Ship's Store
Ron Svec (E) 607-657-2748
Past Presidents
Arnie
Rubenstein 1996-1997
Dick
Sherwood 1992-1995
Susan
Buehler 1988-1991
George
Zeth 1987
Jim
Brennan 1984-1986
Bob
Myllymaki 1982-1983
Syd
Marsden 1979-1981
Ford
Knight 1977-1979
Founders
Jim
Brennan, Fred Curry, Jerry Feltus ,Ford Knight,
Syd Marsden, Richard Morehouse, Dick Wyckoff, George Zeth
Briqhtwork is
the Quartery newsletter of the Finger Lakes Chapter Of the Antique and
Classic Boat Society Inc and
is published for the benefit of Finger Lakes Chapter members. Publication,
dates are March lst, June lst,September 1st and December 1st. Questions,
articles for publication, commercial and non commercial ads, letters
to the editor, etc. should be addressed to Brightwork 1734 LakeRoad,
Webster, NY 14580. 716-265-1518