“This timeline is trying to give people a sense of where they fit in,” said Mike Reiley, town historian and committee member. “Time goes by so quick, but when you look at something like this, it is like 200 years was not that long ago.”

Reiley also gave people in attendance an update on the Old Erie Canal Heritage Park project, a project that will create a park around the canal site.

Two years ago Bryan Rubenau and his wife, Chick, participated in a 400 mile, eight day bike tour from Buffalo to Albany along the Erie Canal with Parks and Trails New York, a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding, protecting and promoting a network of parks, trails and open spaces throughout the state.

“It is interesting to see how Port Byron fits in the context of the rest of the canal,” said the Conquest native, now of Baldwinsville, who went to school in the Port Byron school district.

Michelle Fuller and her son, Devlin Riley, both of Auburn, came to the festival to see what it was all about.

“It's just interesting to know that the Erie Canal used to run from here,” Fuller said.

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239