VILLAGE OF SPECERPORT
NEW YORK STATE CANAL CORPORATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saturday, April 28, 2007

For More Information:   
Donna Stassen, Village of Spencerport – (585) 352-4771 
Marion Trieste, Canal Corporation – (518) 796-9241

VILLAGE OF SPENCERPORT ANNOUNCES PARTICIPATION IN
2nd ANNUAL CANAL CLEAN SWEEP

Statewide Cleanup Activities Planned along New York State Canal System "Day of Caring"

(Spencerport, NY) - As part of the New York Canal Clean Sweep celebration, The Village of Spencerport and Spencerport High School hosted a “Day of Caring.”  The event included canal bank cleanups, garden cleanups and planting, stormwater drain stenciling, water quality testing and other earth friendly demonstrations.  Participants included area students from the Spencerport High School Service Club, sports teams and other community volunteers.

“The Day of Caring Event, now in its 5th year, has achieved much success with the help of local businesses and residents, which is what truly makes Spencerport truly someplace special,” said Donna Strassen. Public Relation Director for the Village of Spencerport.

The Canal Clean Sweep helps to highlight the significance of the Canal System as a recreational and tourism destination in the capital district by encouraging communities, not-for-profit organizations and volunteers to engage in cleanup and beautification activities along the Canal System and the Canalway Trail.   More than 45 communities and trail groups across the New York State Canal System have also participated in the Canal Clean Sweep by hosting local clean up activities in Canal parks, along public promenades and on Canalway Trail segments in their region.

Carmella R. Mantello, Director of the Canal Corporation, said, “The response of communities to the Canal Clean Sweep has been tremendous, with nearly 50 events planned throughout the corridor this year.  This annual event brings hundreds of volunteers together to help spruce up the Canal System, including our parks and trails, and lay out the welcome mat for visitors to canal communities this spring.”

The New York State Canal System is comprised of four historic waterways: the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Spanning 524 miles across New York State, the waterway links the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes and the Niagara River with communities rich in history and culture.

In preparation for the upcoming 182nd consecutive navigation season on the New York State Canal System, and in recognition of Earth Day 2007, the New York State Canal Corporation has partnered with Parks & Trails NY to sponsor the Second Annual Canal Clean Sweep during the weekends of April 21st and 28th, 2007. 
For more information on the Second Annual Canal Clean Sweep, please contact Terry Conway with Parks and Trails NY at (518) 434-1538 or email canalsweep@ptny.org.

For more information regarding events, recreational and vacation opportunities along the Canal System, please visit www.nyscanals.gov or call 1-800-4CANAL4.

The Connecting the Drops Campaign — Connecting the Drops is a public outreach campaign of the New York State Thruway and Canal Corporation (NYSTA/NYSCC). The goal of this outreach is to remind New Yorkers that water connects everyone, and that what is dropped in the environment can reach water bodies and put aquatic life, recreation, and even drinking water at risk. The Connect the Drops effort includes educating NYSTA/NYSCC employees, as well as all the motorists and boaters that use its roads and canals.

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