PRESS RELEASE: September 22, 2010
Contact: Teresa Mitchell, Seaway Trail, Inc. President & CEO, 315-646-1000
Great Lakes Seaway Trail Byway Board Elects 2010-12 Directors
Contact: Teresa Mitchell, Seaway Trail, Inc. President & CEO, 315-646-1000
Great Lakes Seaway Trail Byway Board Elects 2010-12 Directors
 Members of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Board include (front row left to right) Emily Beck, Teresa Mitchell, Florine Luhr, August Schiava, John Percy (back row left to right) Charles Krupke(Outgoing Chairman), David White (Outgoing Secretary), John Hall, Carlos Mercado, and Donald Bennett |
Sackets Harbor, NY – Seaway Trail, Inc. has elected its 2010-2012 Board of Directors to oversee activities of the not-for-profit organization that promotes travel and tourism-related economic development along the 518-mile-long Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway.
The following slate of officers was elected for the two-year terms:
- Chairman of the Board: John Hall, a principal with Cannon Design, Grand Island, NY
- Treasurer: Donald G. Bennett, Jr. CPA and Campground Owners of New York President and CEO, Pittsford, NY
- Secretary: Florine Luhr, Executive Director, Advancing Arts and Culture Buffalo Niagara, Buffalo, NY.
Outgoing Chairman of the Board Charles “Chuck” Krupke, a Pulaski, NY, businessman, will stay on the board in an Ex Officio role as Immediate Past Chairman.
“I enjoyed the privilege of serving as the third Chair of this organization, following our founder and a scholar - Dr. Vincent Dee Sr. and Byron Gale, one of the byway’s 11 county tourism promotion agents and a great supporter of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail. I have been pleased to serve as a representative of the private business sector and to now welcome John Hall, who brings the consumer perspective to the corporation as its new board leader,” Krupke said.
Outgoing Secretary David G. White, a coastal recreation and tourism specialist with New York Sea Grant, Oswego, will continue to serve a technical advisor to Seaway Trail, Inc.
Those elected to serve as directors overseeing activities associated with the series of roads that form one of America’s Byways, a National Recreation Trail and a New York and Pennsylvania Bicycle Route are:
- Kory Ahlstrom, Director of Development, City of Dunkirk, and Chadwick Bay Regional Development Corporation Director, Dunkirk, NY
- Emily Beck, Director of Tourism Development, VisitErie, Erie, PA
- Jill Chamberlain, Community Relations Specialist, New York Power Authority, Massena, NY
- Jim Costello, Director of Advocacy, Bert’s Bikes and Fitness, and Senior Event Coordinator, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY
- Gary DeYoung, Executive Director, 1000 Islands International Tourism Council, Alexandria Bay, NY
- Doug Kohler, Erie County Historian, Niagara 1812 Legacy Council member, and Clarence Middle School 7th grade teacher, Clarence Center, NY
- Pat McKeown, Executive Director, St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce, Canton, NY
- Carlos Mercado, business owner, Rochester, NY
- Teresa Mitchell, President and CEO, Seaway Trail, Inc.
- John Percy, Executive Director, Niagara Tourism and Convention Corporation, Niagara Falls, NY
- August Schiava, Senior Sales Manager, Scott Enterprises, Erie, PA.
Recently-popular travel themes for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway include natural history and birdwatching, the new Great Lakes Seaway Trail GeoTrail, and the French and Indian War military history of the shoreline region.
The nonprofit organization is currently enhancing its Great Lakes Seaway Trail bicycle-related travel resources and developing plans to commemorate the Bicentennial anniversary of the War of 1812.
Learn more online at www.seawaytrail.com or call Seaway Trail, Inc. at its Seaway Trail Discovery Center headquarters in Sackets Harbor, NY, at 315-646-1000. #