Sawyer Community Fund Grant Helps Improve Facilities at Boonville Black River Canal Museum
Feb 14, 2025 03:07PM ● By Nicole Petrus
BOONVILLE — A $6,650 grant from the Kenneth V. and Jeannette Remp Sawyer Community Fund at the Northern New York Community Foundation will help protect property and exhibits at the Boonville Black River Canal Museum from water infiltration.
The Boonville Black River Canal Museum showcases the important history of the canal and its impact on the greater Boonville community and region. The museum maintains five buildings that highlight a variety of eras in which the canal was a driving force for business and good across the region.
The organization’s efforts in this project, along with grant funding, will preserve the myriad exhibits that make the museum a local and regional attraction.
Thirteen grants totaling $57,446 were awarded last year from the Sawyer Community Fund to support projects and programs that broadly impact the quality of life for residents in Boonville, Constableville and Westernville.
The Kenneth V. and Jeannette Remp Sawyer Community Fund was established in 2018 as a geographic specific fund to support programs, projects and initiatives that broadly impact and enhance the quality of life in Boonville, Constableville and Westernville in perpetuity. The Sawyers were passionate about the quality of life in their community, participating in many community activities and volunteering for several local organizations. Through the community fund, the Sawyer family established a lasting charitable resource that will positively impact these communities forever.
The application for the next grant cycle for funding from the Kenneth V. and Jeannette Remp Sawyer Community Fund will be available later this month.
About Kenneth V. and Jeannette Remp Sawyer
Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer participated in many community events and activities through the years and served on local boards and committees. Mr. Sawyer was a Boonville native, served in the United States Army, and enjoyed a career at Layng Furniture Company and as a supervisor at Boonville’s Erwin Park. Most notably, he was a talented musician. He played tenor saxophone in his high school band and clarinet with the Boonville Village Band. He frequently played with three separate drum and bugle corps in Boonville and Rome. Mr. Sawyer died in 2008.
Mrs. Sawyer completed a successful career of more than 45 years at Rome Savings Bank and was an avid follower of the stock market. She also served on the finance committee of Boonville United Methodist Church. She assisted organizations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, Dodge Pratt Northam Art and Community Center, the Erwin Library, and the Boonville Cemetery. Mrs. Sawyer died in 2015. In 2017, the Kenneth V. Sawyer and Jeannette Remp Sawyer Scholarship Fund was established at the Northern New York Community Foundation to benefit Adirondack Central School graduates. The endowed fund will award two scholarships each year forever, supporting the business and music pursuits of high school graduates from the district.
About the Northern New York Community Foundation
Since 1929, the Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. Through partnerships with businesses and organizations, charitable foundations, and generous families and individual donors, the Community Foundation awards grants and scholarships from an endowment and collection of funds that benefit the region. Its commitment to donors helps individuals achieve their charitable objectives now and for generations to come by preserving and honoring legacies of community philanthropy while inspiring others.
The Community Foundation is a resource for local charitable organizations, donors, professional advisors and nonprofit organizations. It also works to bring people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live, work, and play.
