One of the proudest achievements for the Chamber of Southern Saratoga County (CSSC) of the past decade has been the renovation and ongoing annual maintenance of Historic Lock 19 in Vischer Ferry.
When Eric Hamilton, the Executive Director of the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway, brought me out there to view the structure in 2011, it was beginning to fall apart from the years of neglect and the tree roots which were forcing their way into gaps in the stones.
The CSSC board was very eager to do an impactful community service project. Jim Wachala of Turner Construction and Doug Ford of Curtis Lumber swung into action very quickly, agreeing to spearhead a project involving area students. Shenendehowaâs Dr. Oliver Robinson connected us with educators within the district who could organize teams of interested students. Paul Browning, then at GE Power, and Josh Spain of Momentive helped organize engineers to mentor the students, and the project took shape.