September 16-25, 2005 - Parks on the Air - Erie Canal Bicentennial Celebration
The Erie Canal turns 200 in 2025! We are excited to invite you and your club to join us for a special Parks on the Air (POTA) activation of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor (POTA US-6532) in September. The event will take place during the World Canal Conference which is being hosted this year in Buffalo, New York, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Erie Canal!
Experience the canal that transformed America and join amateur radio operators from across New York State as we activate the Heritage Corridor from September 16-25.While the World Canal Conference officially kicks off on Sunday, September 21, at Canalside in Buffalo, there are also pre-conference events across the state starting on Thursday, September 16.
We're looking for as many clubs and individuals as possible to plan POTA activations within the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor (US-6532) over the 10 days. For those activating along the canal (which is encouraged), the Empire State Trail (US-8098) is a common two-fer you may wish to include. The Heritage Corridor is a large area that also includes Cayuga and Seneca Lakes, and even north of Albany, so regardless of where you are in the state, there are a lot of eligible locations and possible n-fers (activating from multiple POTA entities at once).
We invite all surrounding amateur radio clubs and individual operators to join us in promoting Amateur Radio and Parks on the Air, as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal! Clubs are encouraged to make this event their own, engaging members and newer hams to participate, possibly creating a custom QSL card, and promoting their activity across social media.
73,
Matt K2EAG, Angela N3ARB and Mike N2MAK
Note: This event is not sponsored by the Parks on The Air or the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. If you are new to POTA, or club activations, be sure to check out the resources below:
Parks on the Air
https://parksontheair.com
Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
https://eriecanalway.org
World Canal Conference
https://wcc2025buffalo.com
Parks on the Air Club Activation Guide
https://docs.pota.app/docs/activator_reference/activator_guide_clubs.html
Upstate New York POTA Facebook Group (Unofficial)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1207733937203773/
We have also collaborated with our friend Mike W4OPS, one of the official POTA vendors, on a shirt design that is available. It has the “blue and gold” canal colors and the official POTA logo on the back and sleeve. Link:
https://www.hamstuffonline.com