If you’ve ever met Steve Wunder, you remember it. I first saw Steve from aboard Urger on the Seneca River in 2014; he was on his riverside porch, and knowing we were coming his way, he saluted us with hand-cranked siren. When we met later, he recited parts of his poem about the Dipper Dredge.

I took the photo of Steve below at the NYS Canals yard in Lysander NY during the spring 2022 Study Tour.

Steve was telling stories about each of the vessels in the mothball fleet there. Directly behind Steve here is a 45′ USCG buoy boat, and beyond that, that’s Urger. Steve worked on the NYS Canals for 32 years, and on almost every boat. After retiring, he worked on commercial workboats on the system. His grandfather, a fireman or boilerman, shoveled coal into the firebox of steam-powered vessels on the Barge Canal.

Steve is farthest to the right in this group photo, also from May 2022. I have many more photos from that 2022 study tour, and since Dispatches hadn’t launched yet, there is no post about it, but maybe I could do a catch-up post with some photos to document it. Let me know if you’re interested in seeing them.

Since this is a Faces and Voices post, here are Steve’s answers to the ‘s what Steve had to say. “There was never a time in my life when I didn’t know about the NYS canals. My father and grandfather talked about nothing but. I was never very interested in school, but when I was in fourth grade, I had to do a project on the canals, and it was the only time I got an A++.

My favorite section is between Port Gibson and Newark, with the high banks, the narrow waterway is almost like a tunnel, especially in fall.” Steve grew up between Newark and East Palmyra. He continued that Ganargua Creek, aka Mud Creek, amazed him because it “pre-dates the canal. It’s been flowing there way before any canal existed here. I used to swim in it. I’d dive in in East Palmyra and the current was strong. It would take me all the way to the mill stones.”

Actually his first answer was “the part between Buffalo and Albany,” a very Wunderful answer.

“I wish people knew everything I know about the canal, the flow, the birds, the tales . . ..”

Many thanks to Steve for participating in Faces and Voices. More about him can be read here. Photos by Will Van Dorp.

Dispatches is looking for many more “faces and voices.” Send a photo and your brief answers to… canalsocietyofnysphotos@gmail.com.

Whether you’re a boater, biker, hiker, or even mostly armchair traveler, we want to hear from you. Send a photo(s) juxtaposed with canal infrastructure and answers to these questions: How did you become interested in the Canal? What is a favorite time/place? What do you wish more folks knew about the canals?