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Erie Canal Neighbors Association
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#Post#: 2329--------------------------------------------------
Perinton's Oxbow Park & Trail - The Power Of One Eagle Scout
DIR By: Doug K
Date: November 13, 2022, 7:50 am
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It's not often these days, that you find local citizens united
in a common cause for the good of their community and their
environment.
These are troubled times where so many people are embittered by
political views that are dividing our nation, and it seems that
simple truth is being replaced by a rise in "conspiracy
theories, that fly in the face of that "simple truth". It's hard
to find good news in a world that is still reeling from a global
pandemic and an attempt to start the "second Civil War" in our
own country with events that happened in our nations capital
after our last Presidential election.
There are even people in our own communities that are using
their slanted view of the environment to "wage a war" against
public safety efforts in and around the Erie Canal
But this story isn't about "those people"... this one is about
the Power of ONE person to make a change for the GOOD of their
community and their own neighborhoods.
Meet Ever Gavelis
[attachimg=3]
Ever Gavelis is truly a blessing for Perinton, and especially
for a special little place called the Oxbow Park & Trail.
As a Boy Scout he had a vision to turn an overgrown Canalside
"game trail", into a walking trail and park that all of his
neighbors could use to enjoy the Erie Canal. He organized the
very first clean-up of the Oxbow Trail in Perinton, part of an
Eagle Scout project, and since his efforts started, others in
the area have helped to turn this young man's vision into
reality. You can read that article here below.
[attachimg=1]
HTML https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/columnists/rosenberry/2017/08/27/perinton-road/590161001/
And here is a picture of when Ever started his work at the
Oxbow... note the amount of overgrowth and how narrow that trail
looks behind him.
[attachimg=2]
Despite an active effort to STOP this clean-up activity by Eagle
Scout Ever Gavelis at the Oxbow (by some local residents who
felt that leaving the trail "forever wild") Ever, and his Dad
Eric, managed to carve out a wider path and remove loads of
dangerous debris that was littered along the Oxbow Trail, making
it almost impossible to see the Erie Canal or Oxbow Lake that is
a widewaters overlooking this section of the Erie in Fairport.
And here's what the Oxbow Park & Trail looks like today, with
the help of many local volunteers who joined into the cleanup as
part of the NY State Parks & Trails Adopt-A-Trail Program.
[attachimg=4]
[attachimg=5]
[attachimg=6]
The ECNA would like to personally thank Ever Gavelis for his
environmental concern and hard work making the Oxbow Trail what
it is today, and spurring on the next wave of Oxbow Trail
Volunteers who still work keeping this beautiful Canalside
paradise open for all to use & enjoy
#Post#: 2330--------------------------------------------------
Re: Perinton's Oxbow Park & Trail - The Power Of One Trail
Adoption
DIR By: Doug K
Date: November 13, 2022, 8:28 am
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And so the story continues...
After Ever Gavelis had finished his Eagle Scout clean-up work
along the Oxbow Trail, a local dissident group who called
themselves "The Quorum", that was also in favor of that
"overgrown wild look" to the trail created a stink that all but
shutdown the Oxbow Trail efforts. That effort to stop the work
at the Oxbow Trail was led in part by Ms. Elizabeth Agte, who
later went on to form the Stop the Canal Clear-cut Group on
Facebook.
[attachimg=1]
Ms. Agte often posts pretty pictures to her protest group, taken
along the Erie Canal from that same Oxbow Trail that she tried
to prevent from being cleared. She states it's one of the most
beautiful spots along the Erie Canal she knows of, and to this
day has not lifted one finger to help in the effort to keep it
cleared. She still longs for the days it was overgrown &
unmanaged.
So, after the Oxbow Trail was initially cleared, the Erie Canal
Neighbors Association stepped in and adopted this trail in 2018,
to insure it had a chance to survive with that same "vision" as
young Mr. Gavelis had started. The ECNA became Canal Trail
Ambassadors, with their adoption of the Oxbow Park & Trail from
New York Parks & Trails.
[attachimg=2]
HTML https://canalwaytrailtimes.org/2018/08/13/erie-canalway-neighbors-association-adopts-historic-oxbow-trail/
And at the same time a local resident, Mike Caswell, decided it
was time to create a webpage dedicated to this little "secret"
in Fairport, and the Oxbow Blog was started. That weblog is
dedicated to the history and restoration of the Oxbow Rd Trail,
and is managed by Mr. Caswell.
[attachimg=3]
Here's the story about one of the Oxbow Trail cleanup events.
HTML https://theoxbowblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/08/the-ecna-cleans-up/
HTML https://theoxbowblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/02/what-a-difference-a-day-makes/
HTML https://ecna.createaforum.com/oxbow-volunteers/the-oxbow-trail-park-cleanup-continues/
And another story about life along the Oxbow
HTML https://excatholic4christ.wordpress.com/2019/09/18/an-afternoon-at-the-oxbow-on-the-erie-canal-2/
Sometimes it's one person making a difference in our community,
like Ever Gavelis.
Or sometimes it's a group of concerned citizens coming together
for a common cause to insure the safety of the Erie Canal System
or making sure a small trail is maintained. like the ECNA. In
any case it's about community involvement and those individuals
that support IMPROVING the world around them, not tearing it
apart with divisive "rhetoric" about the value of trees or shade
and ignoring the issues with Canal or Trail Safety
Thank you do EVERYONE that has helped the ECNA support the Oxbow
Trail Clean-up efforts... and we are sure that somewhere Ever
Gavelis is saying thank you as well
#Post#: 2331--------------------------------------------------
Re: Perinton's Oxbow Park & Trail - The Power Of One Tragic
Loss
DIR By: Doug K
Date: November 13, 2022, 8:54 am
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And we also have to acknowledge the wife of one of the Erie
Canal Neighbors Association Co-Founders, who unfortunately lost
her life in a tragic, and avoidable accident, that took her life
near the entrance to the Oxbow Trail. Somehow delays in
replacing the washout of the original Oxbow Road culvert over a
drainage area, from the local Minerva School fields, resulted in
local residents creating a workaround to regain access to the
Oxbow Trail.
HTML https://eriecanalfacts.wordpress.com/2018/07/06/culvert-washed-out-in-recent-storm/
And despite numerous attempts from the ECNA to get the New York
Canal Corporation, or local Perinton town leaders, to properly
repair or replace the washout, the project languished for more
than 4 years. The temporary trail worked around the culvert
issue but was slippery under any wet conditions. Over 2 years
the ECNA pleaded with the Canal Corporation to replace the
missing trail section, which also made it difficult for any
trail maintenance work to be done at the Oxbow.
HTML https://ecna.createaforum.com/oxbow-volunteers/whar-happened-to-the-oxbow-bridge/
Unfortunately it took loss of one person's life to finally get
the Oxbow Rd Bridge done. After more than 4 years of excuses and
inaction, the Oxbow Rd bridge was replaced a few days after
Carol Caswell lost her life as a result of a fall she had
navigating the temporary trail workaround and all the material
gathered for the replacement. She was walking the Oxbow Park
with her husband Mike, co-founder of the ECNA, and their dogs
when she fell, and a few days later passed from brain hemorrhage
complications.
Here's the new bridge, and a picture of what is left of the
temporary trail, still used by student from Minerva School as a
shortcut to local neighborhoods.
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
Maybe someday soon there will be a plaque erected, to post on
that new Oxbow Rd bridge, in memory of Carol Caswell, who lost
her life because of NYS "logistics" getting a washout bridge
replaced on a public road, that took four years to process.
Rest in Peace Carol Caswell
[attachimg=3]
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