Sackets Harbor, NY - Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show visitors selected "Heron on the Seaway Trail" by Anne Fisher of Springwater, NY, in Livingston County, for a $200 Viewer's Choice award. The work was chosen from among dozens of quilts depicting Favorite Seaway Trail Places. Nature study and bird watching are popular pastimes for travelers on the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway that is one of America's Byways.Lighthouses, farm markets along Lake Ontario, historic buildings, Niagara County, nature trails, the 1000 Islands, Fort La Presentation, fishing holes, and the Saint Lawrence Seaway were among the sites and scenes captured in fabric and stitches.
The second prize of $150 was awarded to "A Dream Voyage: Sailing the Seaway" by Kim Keller of Norwood, NY, in St. Lawrence County. The 518-mile-long byway begins along the St. Lawrence River and parallels the freshwater shoreline of New York and Pennsylvania
The third prize of $100 was awarded to quilter-designer Mary Knapp of Watertown, NY, in Jefferson County, for her quilt title "The Toad: A Wetlands Favorite." The Eastern Lake Ontario Dunes & Wetlands Area are easily reached from the Great Lakes Seaway Trail
A quilt depicting Boldt Castle, a War of 1812 soldier, boat tours and water recreation received a $50 Honorable Mention award for the Thousand Islands International Tourism Council and quilt maker April Neisz.
Entries for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show Challenge were received from several of the byway's 11 counties and from Wolfe Island, Canada, and Lafayette, Indiana. Each entry received a special gift. The cash prizes were made possible by the Seaway Trail Foundation and the Orleans County Country Barn Quilt Trail, a 22-mile loop tour off the byway with more than 40 barns painted with quilt block patterns.
To see the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show winning entry, go online to http://www.seawaytrail.com/.
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Photo Caption: Great Lakes Seaway Trail President Teresa Mitchell is seen with the quilt, “Our Seaway Trail Lighthouse Adventure,” made by Nancy Smith of Syracuse to commemorate her family’s visit to Selkirk Lighthouse on the Seaway Trail. Smith won the 2006 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show competition and the overnight stay at the historic lighthouse at Port Ontario in Oswego County. Contact: Teresa Mitchell, Seaway Trail Foundation, 315-646-1000