News

Taylor Road improvements – October 2024

The Mendon Foundation’s team of volunteers spent numerous workdays over the last month making improvements to its Taylor Road Land Trust Property.  Scouts from Honeoye Falls’ Scouts BSA Troop 410 also volunteered for a workday on the property as a community service project.  The significant volunteer efforts primarily focused on leveling and seeding the entrance trail, removing numerous fallen Ash trees, replacing a large drainage culvert and removing an old dilapidated wooden fence.  The Mendon Foundation Read more

By Mendon Foundation President, ago

Black Diamond Races – September 2024

Sunday August 25th marked the 13th anniversary of the Mendon Foundation’s Black Diamond races.  Over 150 runners gathered in Mendon on the Lehigh Valley Trail to participate in this year’s events. As in past year’s two races were run simultaneously including a half marathon and a 5K run. Volunteers throughout the community gathered in the early hours of the morning to assure the course was set up and ready for the event. Water stations and road crossings were manned, Read more

By Mendon Foundation President, ago

Sibleyville Nature Reserve improvements – August 2024

The Mendon Foundation has been busy this Summer with a couple of improvement projects on its 46-acre Sibleyville Nature Reserve.  Members of our community, as well as visitors from outside our community, utilize this beautiful green space daily nearly year-round. For this reason, we purchased thirty-three (33) tons of crushed stone to improve the Reserve’s parking lot located off Plains Road. We also have blazed a new short trail in the front of the Reserve Read more

By Mendon Foundation President, ago

2021 Year End Letter / 2022 Fundraising Appeal

Dear friends, neighbors, and outdoors lovers, Happy new year! I hope 2021 brought improvement to your life. There is no doubt that many folks are struggling as we continue to wade through the wake of our pandemic, but one thing that most people seem to agree on is that time spent outdoors has been a godsend. The past 24 months have enabled us all to reconnect with nature, and that is a good thing. Our Read more

By Mendon Foundation President, ago

New Book! Rails To Trails: Rochester Junction Then and Now

At long last, our 2021 book, Rails to Trails: Rochester Junction Then and Now by Diane Ham & Charles Woolever is available for purchase. It’s a beautiful 182-page softcover book with 127 photos, 51 color pages, 7 informative maps, and a full index. Proceeds benefit The Mendon Foundation. In the works for almost a year, and with contributions from many people in our community, this is the first book about the history of Rochester Junction Read more

By Mendon Foundation President, ago

The 2021 Black Diamond Express Races Were a (Wet) Success!

On Sunday, August 29th, we hosted a record 176 Half Marathoners and 52 5K’ers on the Lehigh Valley Trail for the in-person 10th Annual Black Diamond Express Races, which were our first since 2019. These numbers don’t include Virtual Runners and no-shows, which brought us to 289 total participants. Our returning runners comprised 30% of the field, which is an outstanding achievement, and a testament to how people feel about these races. With official recorded Read more

By Mendon Foundation President, ago

Black Diamond Preview Run!

Rochester Running Company / Robinhood Racing are hosting a preview run TONIGHT (7/16). For details see: https://www.facebook.com/events/493916248565424/ Join us for a preview run of the Black Diamond Express course. We are running max 6 miles.This run is an out and back.We will have pizza and beers post run if people are interested in hanging around.All paces welcome. Also, runners/walkers are welcome to go farther or shorter than 6 miles due to the out and back Read more

By Mendon Foundation President, ago

Pick Up The Parks with Mendon Foundation Volunteers from the DAR (and Their Families!)

Several Mendon Foundation volunteers stepped up in a big way for the Saturday April 17th “Pick up the Parks” event, in concert with the Monroe County Parks Department, through coordination with the Mendon Foundation. Cindy Barben and her colleagues from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Canandaigua, NY, Chapter cleaned up a 4.5 mile stretch of the Lehigh Valley Trail between the Mendon Youth Baseball fields and Rochester Junction. Mike, Martha and a friend Read more

By Mendon Foundation President, ago

April 1, 2021: A Historical Account of the Creation of the Lehigh Valley Trail, Hosted by John Farrell, Mendon Foundation President Emeritus

The April 1, 2021 meeting of the Honeoye Falls – Town of Mendon Historical Society will feature John Farrell, former Mendon resident, former Mendon Foundation President, avid cyclist & involved Mendon Foundation Director & volunteer. The topic of John’s talk will be “A Historical Account of the Creation of the Lehigh Valley Trail.” In this special, never-before-seen presentation, John will share a “one night only” account of the Mendon Foundation’s groundbreaking collaborative work with Monroe Read more

By Mendon Foundation President, ago

New book from Judy Foster features photos from the Lehigh Valley Trail

Mendon Foundation fan Judy Foster has just finished creating a new book called A Moment in Time: A Reflection of 2020. Her book totals 84 pages, full of color photography and inspirational quotes and thoughts. Over 90% of the photos were taken on the Lehigh Valley Trail, and all but one were taken within a 50-mile radius of Rush. To purchase A Moment in Time, email Judy, or reach out to her on Facebook!

By Mendon Foundation President, ago