Blackstone Heritage Corridor, Inc. (BHC) has announced the winners of its 2019 Calendar Photo Contest and plans for a calendar release party at Wormtown Brewery on Friday, October 19. Judging of the photo submissions this year was done by volunteers of the Blackstone Heritage Corridor Photography Ambassadors. With the theme for the 2019 calendar being “The Legacy of Transportation in the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor: Yesterday and Today,” the nine judges reviewed the photos which best met the required theme and were tasked with making the selections for the twelve months, plus the cover photo. All judging was done blind, without knowledge of the photo’s owner, and critiquing included composition, clarity and relevance to the theme and location.
This year’s cover photo titled “Same Canal, Different Boats” was taken by Suzie B. of Harrisville, RI, at Blackstone River & Canal Heritage State Park, Uxbridge, MA, while volunteers from the Blackstone Valley Paddle Club were coming ashore. The photo captures active transportation with the kayakers in the historic Blackstone Canal and its location in the National Heritage Corridor is identified with a Blackstone Canal sign on a tree.
John Kloczkowski of North Uxbridge, MA, captured a Providence & Worcester Railroad train plowing the tracks in Uxbridge, MA, making for the perfect January photo in the 2019 calendar. Judith Belben of Milford, MA, spent time underneath the illuminated Kenneth Burns Bridge in Worcester, MA, and the judges felt the soft pink undertones were a great fit for the month of February. With snow starting to disappear from the landscape, Mark J. Paine of Woonsocket, RI, took his camera down along the Providence & Worcester Railroad train tracks in Woonsocket and captured a stunning shot of the rails. The judges slotted his shot for March. With the leaves still barely on the trees in April, judges selected Bob Evans’ photo of a rustic, antique fire engine, Engine #8, sitting in a field in his hometown of Northbridge, MA.
Judith Belben had a second image selected for the 2019 calendar and it was her photo of two older men in a small, antique-looking fishing boat taken in Hopedale, MA, that caught their eye. With their backs to the camera’s lens, she captured the serenity of the moment on a sunny spring day. It leaves the admirer wondering what they could have been talking about. Belben’s fishing boat photo is slotted for the month of May.
Mary M. Silva of Northbridge, MA, captured a small bridge on Mendon Street in Uxbridge, MA, adorned with wooden yellow flowers. “The Flower Bridge” was selected for the month of June.
Diane M. Sears of Hopedale, MA, says she was walking with a friend when they happened to walk upon an old fashioned wagon and was encouraged to enter the shot into the photo contest. Her photo was slotted for the month of July as the wagon is adorned with an American Flag perched over the back of its seat.
On a beautiful, sunny summer day, Dennis M. Smith of Uxbridge, MA, was standing below the Route 116 bridge in Lincoln, RI, on the bank of the Blackstone River just north of the Captain Wilbur Kelly House Museum. It was there he captured his “Arches Over the Blackstone” photo highlighting the stunning architecture of the bridge. The bone-colored bridge stands majestically against a crisp blue sky accented with puffy white clouds, green foliage on the trees and a dark blue river running below. Smith’s photo appears in the month of August. September’s photo was taken by Carole Carnovale of Mendon, MA, and she chose to submit a unique perspective of the popular Triad Bridge in Millville, MA. Titled “Rails Over the Blackstone,” Carnovale’s photo highlights the rich rust color of the bridge as the rails cross over the Blackstone River. The little bit of fog gives it a slight element of mystique.
While taking a walk on a fall day in the area of the Shining Rock Golf Course in Northbridge, MA, a winding, paved cart path caught Mary M. Silva’s eye and it caught the eye of the photo contest judges too. They selected it for the October photo in the Blackstone Heritage Corridor’s 2019 calendar.
Steve Lariviere of Northbridge, MA, captured the Blackstone Valley Excursion Train making a trip through Northbridge, MA, one year. The judges found the train’s red and black colors striking against the fog it was traveling through and selected it for the month of November.
Mary M. Silva had a total of three of her photos selected this year, much to her surprise in this blind judging. In the evening hours, she captured an ornate snow-covered footbridge at Elm Park in Worcester, MA, crossing over Lincoln Pond below. Known as the “Iron Bridge,” it is adorned with heart-shaped ironwork and decorative supports. The bridge is a recreation of the 1881 original by Henry Edwards and its replica was installed in the historic Elm Park in 1972.
The 2019 Blackstone Heritage Corridor calendar also features blueprints for a paper model of The Lady Carrington Canal Boat printed on the back page. The same blueprints can be found on Blackstone Heritage Corridor’s website in the GearHeads section.
A Calendar Release Party will be held Friday, October 19 at Wormtown Brewery (72 Shrewsbury St., Worcester, MA) from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. To tie into the transportation theme, Wormtown Brewery will donate $1 from each pint of Rocket Pale Ale purchased in the taproom that day. Wormtown’s Rocket pays tribute to Dr. Robert Goddard, the genius who invented the liquid-fueled rocket, not far from the brewery. October 19 is noted as “Robert Goddard Anniversary Day,” the day celebrated as his inspiration for rockets. According to historical records, on this day, when he was just 17 years old, Robert Goddard was up in a cherry tree pruning branches when he imagined making a device having the possibility of ascending to Mars and how it would look on a small scale. It’s said he knew then what he wanted to do with his life. On March 16, 1926 he successfully launched the first liquid-fueled rocket from a field belonging to his aunt in Auburn, MA. He named it Nell and it flew 41 feet high and landed 184 feet way in just 2.5 seconds.
Blackstone Heritage Corridor’s 2019 calendar will be available for sale late October at its office located at 670 Linwood Avenue, Whitinsville, MA, and on its website at BlackstoneHeritageCorridor.org. For more information, call (508)234-4242.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bonnie Combs, Marketing Director
(508) 234-4242
Bcombs@BlackstoneHeritageCorridor.org
BHC Announces 2019 Calendar Photo Contest Winners
Calendar Release Party to Be Held at Wormtown Brewery on October 19