Author: FoLSP Admin

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Big Bend Chimney Restoration Grant Award

The Friends of Letchworth State Park will receive a grant of $28,125.00 to restore and preserve the Big Bend Chimney. This chimney was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933 at Camp #23, the Big Bend Camp. The grant award announced by Governor Andrew Cuomo on December 8 was one of the 110 Regional Economic Development grants awarded to the Finger Lakes Region.

The Big Bend Chimney, which is on the east side of Letchworth Park near the E Cabin Area, is the only standing remnant of the camp that housed 200 CCC participants from 1933 to 1941. These men built the Parade Grounds picnic shelter, stone tables, cabins, roads and more, creating much of today’s Letchworth Park.

This project is another step in the Friends of Letchworth State Park effort to preserve the CCC Legacy in the Park. The Friends restored a CCC-built Adirondack-style lean to that sits on the west side of the Genesee Gorge near the Hogsback in 2016 and a stone chimney at the site of the former CCC Gibsonville Camp in 2017. Restoration of stone picnic tables near the Parade Grounds is now in progress.

The grant award from New York State is a matching grant that requires the Friends of Letchworth State Park to pay an additional $9,375.00 to fully fund the project. The Friends are depending on membership dues, fundraising efforts and community donations to raise the required match. The Big Bend Chimney restoration should be completed prior to the three-day convention of the national CCC Legacy organization to be held at Letchworth in September 2019.

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Letchworth’s First Day Hike

FIRST DAY HIKES – 4 choices on New Year’s Day. The hikes are scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm at The Humphrey Nature Center. Participants are urged to arrive half an hour early to register. Hot Chocolate & Cookies will follow at 3:00 pm along with certificates & bookmarks.

Four levels to choose from:
1) Families with younger children. Winter Nature Walk with highlight: Letchworth CSI – Who Done It: Journey on a wooded loop less than one mile on nearly level terrain near The Humphrey Nature Center past, frozen bogs and the Trout Pond.

2) Exploratory walk. Winter Wander between the Ponds: Using deer trails and other paths this 1 ½ mile journey explores the area between Trout Pond and Pine Pond.

3) Families with older children. Winter Nature Walk with highlight: Exotic Trees from Other Lands and State & National Champions: Two-mile loop to Inspiration Point the Glen Iris Fountain and Middle Falls with more than 200′ descent and 200′ ascent along trails, roads and stairs.

4) Faster paced, longest hike. Winter Hike to view the Great Bend Gorge: Three or more mile outing to view the Park’s deepest canyon from several vantage points along the Gorge Trail.