Replicas of Erie Canal tokens made of chocolate. An Erie Canal aqueduct made
of New York State Cheddar Cheese. Canal boat models made of maple sugar candy.
They were all part of the Erie Canal gala celebration on Thursday, the 175th
anniversary of the opening of the waterway.
The edibles were the brainchild of Prof. Cliff Brown, chair of the Nott
exhibits committee and co-curator of the exhibit with Rachel Seligman, director
of the Mandeville Gallery.
Brown contacted the New York State Maple Growers Association to find people
who could produce a 16-inch replica of the canal boat. Smaller versions — the
ones that “floated” across the cheese aqueduct — were produced by
staff in dining services.
Also featured at the gala was an ice sculpture of a colonial eagle carved by
George Ferro of dining services, and commemorative wine goblets, an idea from
Bill Schwarz, director of communications. Callie Stacey, also of dining
services, oversaw the production of the foil-wrapped chocolate tokens.
So, the question is … when do we get to eat all this stuff? Not so fast,
warns Brown, who plans to use the cheese aqueduct and maple canal boat for the
final event of the Erie Canal celebration on Saturday. (They'll be wrapped and
refrigerated until then, of course.)
“I can assure you that the maple candy canal boat will not go to
waste,” Brown says, adding, “There's a diabetes screening on campus
this week. It might be a good idea to go get checked out.”