Published: April 26, 2008 03:05 am            

CITY OF LOCKPORT: 'Key' awards cheer on canal champions

No one can do everything, but if we all did a little something, a lot would get done.

That’s the way Jane Whitmore interprets community.

The volunteer who’d prefer to work unnoticed in the background will be honored May 3 by Erie Canal Discovery Center/Niagara County Historical Society. She’s the third recipient of the “Key to the Locks,” symbolic recognition of those who make the community a better place to live.

Whitmore is reluctant to agree she deserves the recognition. In fact, she said, she nominated someone else for the award, “someone who’s done much more than I have. But I’m guessing I won because I have white hair and he has dark hair. He’ll still be around a while ... .”

Whitmore is an active member of the Erie Canal Task Force and a volunteer gardener for City Hall. Through the years she’s helped support a raft of civic and community causes, from PTA and College Club to the Kenan Arts Council, to which she still gives her time today. She’s a gentle but strong-willed woman who backs up her words with action.

“I support people who want to do something in the community that will benefit it,” Whitmore said. “I’m antiquated. What can I say?”

The Lindsey, Ontario, native had never heard of Lockport, much less been to it, until she married a teacher, John Whitmore, in 1952. As they raised five children, she became deeply involved in the community and grew to love it.

A charter member of the Erie Canal Task Force “many years ago,” she’s still driven by a belief that the canal can help drive prosperity in the city again.

Whitmore is the official compiler of statistics about visitation to the Erie Canal Museum at Lock 34. A sign-in book invites visitors to jot down where they’ve come from, and the last three annual counts show an average of 7,300 sign-ins, from every state in the union and countries around the world.

Whitmore is quick to point out these are only the sign-ins and there are many more visitors to the locks area generally. It prompts a pointed question from a dedicated tourism advocate:

If people will come to Lockport from around the globe for a glimpse of history, why is it so difficult to get the locals excited about it?

“The community absolutely takes the canal for granted,” Whitmore said. “I can talk to people whose eyes glaze over when I talk about the economic benefits; they’re longtime residents, too. I think part of the problem is you can’t see it from Main Street ... . But the fact remains, we have all these thousands of people (visiting the locks), what are we going to do to capitalize on that?”

Whitmore also is active with the city’s volunteer beautification committee. Her “turf,” since Main Street was remade, is the raised beds around City Hall. Pretty perennials add much-needed color and cheer there, and Whitmore ensures they stay looking good all season by recruiting helpers from the Community Pride alternatives-to-incarceration program.

While she works alongside the young people, Whitmore would like to think she’s planting a seed of thought about the nature of community.

“No one has time to give, especially young people,” she said, “but if everybody just took a little interest, that would prevent the city from going downhill. You can’t expect the politicians to do it all; everybody has to pitch in a little bit.”

•••

The third annual “Key to the Locks” award ceremony will be held from 11 a.m. to noon next Saturday at Erie Canal Discovery Center, 24 Church St. The ceremony dovetails with the Thursday opening of the state canal system and will be marked with presentation of the key, a song and skit by Roy B. Kelley Elementary students and a musket demonstration. The public is welcome.

Also being recognized at the ceremony is “Doc Stuart” Shapiro of Amherst, the grand-prize winner of the first Erie Canal songwriting contest sponsored by the Discovery Center/City of Lockport Visitors Center. He composed, recorded and will perform “The Lockport Locks (On The Erie Canal),” which celebrates the genius of canal construction.

Shapiro, an attorney with Cohen & Lombardo P.C. of Buffalo, isn’t necessarily an Erie Canal history buff. But he is a musician — his first career was as professional solo guitarist, opening for noted acts including Paul Anka, John Mellencamp and Buddy Rich.

“I write some original songs. I play in several bands,” Shapiro said. “I’ve never entered a song-writing contest before, though. It’s pretty neat to win the first time.”

Shapiro had to research the canal’s history before he could put pen to paper. He learned enough to compose lyrics that made sense, but says he didn’t really “get” the magnificence of the story until he visited the Discovery Center earlier this week.

“I’m fascinated after seeing the museum,” Shapiro said. “What a gem. I can’t believe the city doesn’t have signs all over the place telling people, ‘this way to the Discovery Center.’”

Shapiro the musician may already be known to some. In addition to playing guitar, banjo, bass, keyboard, percussion harmonica and synthesizer, he’s a member of a jug band that makes the rounds in the regional festival-and-events circuit. Jug bands make music with homemade instruments built from bases like washboards and tubs.

“We amaze people playing music out of instruments you would not expect. We have a lot of fun,” Shapiro said. “I’m trying to get my jug-band buddies to show up at the Discovery Center, but so far I don’t have any commitments. It might just be me.”

Contact reporter Joyce M. Miles at 439-9222, ext. 6245.

        

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