2024 Season Reflection
Greetings,
Corn Hill Navigation has been working to make Rochester’s incredible, historic waterways more accessible for over 3 decades! Yesterday marked the last day of cruises for 2024, and I’m thrilled to share that our 34th season was the best yet! This year, Corn Hill Navigation:
- Welcomed more than 18,000 passengers aboard Sam Patch and Riverie;
- Operated one thousand cruises on the Erie Canal and Genesee River;
- Partnered with the Golisano Foundation and Rochester Accessible Adventures to evaluate and update our website, vessels, programming, and staff training process to be a highly inclusive and welcoming organization;
- Partnered with multiple area foundations to expand our educational programming – resulting in over 150 cruises serving more than 4,000 local students;
- Worked with New York State Canal Corp to provide free, community cruises though the “On The Canal” program;
- Introduced a monthly lecture series though a partnership with the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse that brought speakers to Rochester to discuss how our waterways impacted everything from abolitionism to women’s rights;
- Shared local crafts with passengers aboard our art cruises;
- Added a boxed lunch option to our Sam Patch noon cruises and our 11:30 weekend cruises on Riverie;
- Expanded our live music cruises to nearly every Thursday and Friday night throughout the season; and
- Brought Sam Patch to Brockport for SUNY’s homecoming, offering greater access for residents throughout Monroe County.
All of this is possible because of the incredible volunteers, captains, crew members, customer service agents, board members, and staff that work tirelessly toward our mission. As a small nonprofit, we rely on community support and your donations to make everything we do possible! We are especially thankful to those who donate throughout the year and to our generous sponsors.
While the current season is coming to a close, we are excited for the future – 2025 marks the Bicentennial of the Erie Canal, which opened statewide in 1825. As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of this incredible waterway, we’re using this milestone to make Rochester’s waterways even more accessible. We have big plans for the upcoming season, and we can’t wait to share our historic waterways with you, your family and friends during the 2025 Bicentennial season.
Sincerely,
Patrick Russell-Walsh
Executive Director
PS: if you’re looking for a unique holiday gift, give the gift of adventure with a CHN gift card!!!
PSS: Please check out this article on Rochester!