Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will continue to offer online programs throughout the summer even as the Visitor Center is now open by appointment. The Erie Canal historic site will provide programs through Webex as well as other online platforms and social media.
The next “virtual” program is scheduled for 6:30pm on Tuesday, July 28th and the topic will be how foodways in America changed because of westward expansion and the Erie Canal. Lavada Nahon will discuss how the movement of people and the mix of cultures transformed the way people eat. Nahon is a culinary historian, editor and historic interpreter for the Bureau of Historic Site and Park Services.
On Thursday, August 13th at 6:30pm, join us via Webex as Schoharie Crossing hosts Schenectady City Historian Chris Leonard as he delivers a rollicking ride on the Erie Canal through Schenectady, from the Rexford Aqueduct to old Lock 23, the busiest transit point on the entire canal. Spend time with GE executives on boisterous pleasure cruises and hustle through backstreets with greenhorns desperately seeking whiskey. Travel with Leonard as he spins yarns of Schenectady’s unique characters, ne’er-do-well wharf rats, and foul-mouthed parrots, who made their livings on the canal.
During the month of August, the site is hosting a book club with weekly check-ins that will include discussion on the reading and an opportunity to pose questions. The selection is the 2016 release by author Jack Kelly, “Heaven’s Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal.” Participants can submit questions for the author, as Kelly will be providing an online presentation with Q&A on September 2nd.
Additional programs are being planned. The site grounds are open for appropriate socially distant recreational use from sunrise to sunset daily. Please observe NYS Guidelines while visiting Schoharie Crossing.
For information about these programs, please find us on Facebook or you can call or email the Visitor Center at (518) 829-7516, SchoharieCrossing@parks.ny.gov. You can make a reservation to explore the Pathway to Empire exhibit by contacting the site.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 individual state parks, historic sites, golf courses, boat launches and recreational trails, which are visited by 71 million people annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit www.nysparks.com, connect on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.