Saturday, August 26, 2006
For Release Upon Receipt

Historic Blackstone Canal Highlighted At Blackstone Valley Heritage Homecoming Ecumenical Breakfast on Friday, September 29th

GRAFTON - The historic Blackstone Canal will be highlighted at this year's Blackstone Valley Heritage Homecoming's Reverend William Blackstone Ecumenical Breakfast. Grafton will host the 20th annual breakfast on Friday, September 29th at the St. James Church hall located at 89 Main Street in South Grafton. The breakfast begins at 8:30 AM.

National Park Service Ranger Chuck Arning of the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor will talk about the circa 1828-1848 Blackstone Canal and recent initiatives to uncover and preserve the canal in South Grafton and throughout the Blackstone Valley.

The route of the Blackstone Canal runs for three miles through South Grafton. Much of the original canal trench and towpath is remarkably intact and includes visible, watered sections at State Route 122 A at the former Fisherville Mill site, currently proposed as a mixed use development. Studies completed by the Heritage Corridor and the Worcester Historical Museum conclude that some of the best preserved sections of the historic canal trench and towpath are in Grafton.

There is a master plan currently proposed to rewater sections of the Blackstone Canal trench in South Grafton by diverting water from Fisherville Pond, the impoundment created just to the north of the Fisherville site. Rewatering the Blackstone Canal would create an important heritage tourism amenity. Ongoing archeological studies are expected to confirm the existence of largely intact remains of Canal Lock 30 on the Fisherville Mill site, which would make this the closest canal lock site to a state numbered highway in the Blackstone Valley corridor.

The Heritage Homecoming Ecumenical Breakfast honors the Reverend William Blackstone (1595-1675) the first European settler of the Blackstone River Valley. Blackstone Valley Heritage Homecoming is an early Autumn celebration now in its 21st season held in the eleven Massachusetts communities of the Blackstone River Valley. The nine day, two weekend heritage tourism celebration features harvest festivals, historical tours, farming attractions and cultural events.

Tickets to the ecumenical breakfast are $6.00 per person and can be reserved by calling Blackstone Valley Heritage Homecoming Chairman Spaulding Aldrich at 508-234-5043. A limited number of tickets will be sold at the door on the day of the event. The breakfast is sponsored by the Blackstone Valley Heritage Homecoming Committee with the generous support of National Grid.

Blackstone Valley Heritage Homecoming 2006 will be held over two consecutive weekends, September 23rd to 24th and September 30th to October 1st. Heritage Homecoming celebrates the historic Blackstone River Valley communities of Massachusetts and features specially designated tourism and cultural events. Additional information on 2006 Blackstone Valley Heritage Homecoming events can be found at the Heritage Homecoming Committees website:

http://www.bv-heritage-homecoming.org/

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About the Chamber

The Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce serves the Blackstone River Valley's eleven member towns in Massachusetts: Blackstone, Douglas, Grafton, Hopedale, Mendon, Millbury, Millville, Northbridge, Sutton, Upton, and Uxbridge. The mission of the chamber is to promote the economic vitality of the Blackstone Valley, meet the needs of the Chamber's business members, while providing leadership on issues which impact the economy and quality of life in the Valley.