Happy New Year! Way back in May, I wrote about the upcoming merger of the Lock 52 Historical Society and the Montezuma Historical Society. Well, I am pleased to say that the formal merging will be taking place soon when the New York State Education Department gives us its approval. The Education Department has the oversight for giving charters to the local and regional historical groups, and by way of the charter, it lays out the rules and regulations that we must follow. These rules afford all of our members and supporters a certain level of protection knowing that we have written standards that must be followed when it comes to our finances and collections. Now that all these steps have been taken, you will begin to see less of the Lock 52 and Montezuma historical societies, and more of the Old Mentz Heritage Center.
So what are the changes? The headquarters of Old Mentz will remain at 73 Pine Street in Port Byron. Over the past year the two boards have been meeting to work out our priorities and who will be doing what. The Friends of the Montezuma Heritage Park will continue as a committee within the organization framework, as will the cemetery, collections, programs and other committees. We will be expanding our collection to accept items that pertain to Montezuma, and even Throop, history as they were all once a part of Mentz.
Aside from the name change, it is likely that you won’t even notice much else. We all share a common history by way of the Montezuma Turnpike, the canal, the school district, newspaper, commercial activities and family groups. Our research has never been limited by the political boarders, however, there was always a deference to stay out of the others historical sandbox. So now you will see articles and news that cover both towns. And there will be a new website at www.old-mentz.org.
So what to look forward to? The big push over the next two years will be the Bicentennial of the Erie Canal in 2025. Together with our friends in Weedsport, Jordan, Camillus and Syracuse, along with the Canal Society of NYS, we will be planning and hosting a series of events to help commemorate the 200th birthday of the completion of the Erie Canal. We will continue to help the Town of Montezuma maintain the beautiful Montezuma Heritage Park. We will continue our work with headstone cleaning and repair events. And of course, we will continue to aid all of you who are looking into your family history. It is funny when researchers apologize for taking up our time, and we always say, “This is what we are here for!”
We thank all of you who have become members, made donations, written comments on our social media posts, attended our programs, visited the art display and made use of the society collection.
Finally, we would be nothing without our volunteers who greet and talk with visitors, help organize the collection, help with the cleaning events and work in the park. It is an active group, and there is always room for more. If you are curious about what we do, this is your invitation to stop by, sit and visit for a bit. I have heard that our group loves to be distracted hearing your memories.
Back in 1979 a small groups of folks set about to organizing the Lock 52 Historical Society, and we honor those folks for their dedication, time, efforts and financial support over the last 44 years. I don’t think any of them could have foreseen the changes that would have taken place as they held their first meetings at the village offices. I look forward to what happens next.