- Tonight on WPBS Weekly.

Inside the Stories New York State Senator Mark Walczyk opens up about life beyond politics.

He reflects on a milestone birthday and the people who have influenced him most.

Also, the Seneca Chief sets sail again to retrace the Erie Canal's historic and complicated legacy.

Your story is your stories, your region coming up right now on WPBS Weekly.

Inside the stories, - WPBS weekly inside the stories is brought to you by - When you're unable to see your primary care provider.

A Carthage Walk-in clinic is here for you.

Located off Route 26 across from Carthage Middle School.

Comfort and Healing close to home when you need it most - North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- We are the north country.

We're protecting one another like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the north country Strong, at claxtonhepburn.org.

- Today, select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide Community Regrant program, a REGRANT program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York state legislator administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.

- Good Tuesday evening everyone, and welcome to this edition of WPBS Weekly Inside the Stories.

I'm Michael Riecke.

We are on a mission to get to know our elected officials beyond politics and meet the person behind the title.

Tonight we sit down with Senator Mark Walczyk, if there's a political ladder.

He is climbing it from Watertown City Council to the State Assembly to representing the 49th district in the state Senate.

We asked the senator to take a break from talking policy and share how service, family, and a passion for the north country have shaped his life.

On and off the Senate floor.

Senator Mark Walczyk, thank you so much for joining us here in the studio.

It's good to have you.

- Good to be here.

Thanks for having me.

- Well, I, I wanna dive right in because you've been pretty committed to public service throughout your career.

What took you down that pathway?

What drew you in to public service?

- A community, I think, and this is probably true if anybody really digs down to find where they've found their life purpose.

I grew up in a community, a church, a family that really believed in volunteering.

So whether it was my school community and volunteer opportunities there, or through the Boy Scouts when I came up, or my church or my family themselves, my nuclear and extended family, I really just grew up around a community that believed in surfing.

So looking back, there probably wasn't any other direction that my life was going to take, though I never really thought I would end up where I am today.

- Was there any one person, if you think about back when you were a kid, thinking about maybe leadership opportunities?

Any one person who inspired you?

- I mean, many, but probably my dad.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I would say my dad by by example, he's like a small country lawyer and the kind of guy that if, you know, he needed to do a real estate transaction or a will, and he probably would not appreciate me saying this publicly, but if, if the old lady couldn't pay for it, he would let her pay in pies.

So we'd come home with, you know, Mrs.

So and so baked our family, a bunch of pies, and we knew that meant she couldn't pay the tab.

But just kind of always giving back and in volunteering through our church and in our community as well, I would say probably my dad.

And you can't discount a good pie though.

- No, that's true.

- Some would say - Priceless.

Priceless.

Absolutely.

Some members of your constituency, our audience may not realize that you are in the reserves.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

So tell me how that time spent giving your service in, in the military, how has that sort of shaped your philosophy and, and your leadership style?

- Yeah, so you, I mean, you talk about wanting to be called to or, or about the, the need to be called to serve and what that feels like.

I, I joined a little bit later.

I was like 27 when I joined up.

So I was basically like a grandpa in basic training, but I went to, to basic training in officer candidate school commissioned as a second lieutenant.

I've been in for 13 years now as an engineer officer.

It is, it's one week a month, two weeks a year, plus some bonus time.

But I've really enjoyed that service.

The military is the great melting pot in the United States of America.

I love serving in the Army.

It's cool to bump up against my colleagues both in the reserve, the active duty component and the National Guard.

And you get together, whether it's a, a big training operation or whether it's a deployment I deployed last year to the Middle East, you really see how all Americans come together and get super mission focused.

And I would say that's one thing that I've also carried out of that military experience.

You know, a senate office and politics can get a little crazy and a little confusing, but if you practice good troop leading procedures, you have a good mission statement for your small team, which is your Senate office, and you know what that mission is, and that's serving the people of the 49th Senate district and making New York a better place to live, work, and raise a family for generations.

You stick to that mission and, and, and you're never gonna work a bad day.

- In our chat, before we started the interview, you taught me something, which I didn't realize, which is you have the geographically the largest Senate district Yeah.

In the state.

- Yeah, I'll brag.

Go ahead.

I do.

So there's 150 assembly members and 63 state senators in New York State.

So that's 213 districts.

And the 49th Senate district is the biggest of all of them.

- What does that mean for you practically?

- It means a lot of driving.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So it's, it stretches from Oswego County straight up to the St. Lawrence River, down through Lowville into the Mohawk Valley and all the way down to Fulton County.

So Johnstown, Gloversville and straight up into the Adirondack.

So I've got Old Forge and Blue Mountain Lake and gorgeous, gorgeous territory to do a lot of driving - Through.

Yeah.

What, what do those regions, what, is there a common thread?

I mean, you know, it's a pretty sizable stretch in terms of driving, but, but when it comes down to it, what, what do each of those small towns have in, have in common?

- That's it.

It's a hundred towns, 45 villages, five small cities, rural areas in upstate New York.

And a lot of them face similar challenges.

You're, you're talking about access to broadband, access to even cell phone service in a, in a lot of areas that I represent the basic infrastructure to support rural living and give people an opportunity to, to better their family and their situation.

Jobs critically important.

And then we also, you know, as, as I described a lot of those areas, you have the, the prosperity and then the, the sort of decline of a lot of rust belt cities in upstate New York that are looking for that next economic engine to come back in.

And that's what we're focused on.

- You used the word grandpa earlier, you're not quite that age, but I think you have a big birthday coming up this year, if I'm not mistaken.

True.

- Yeah.

I'm turning, I'm turning 40.

Yeah.

- Let's talk about age and how growing older, reaching that milestone, the big four oh, how has that shaping your philosophy and, and how has your thinking sort of matured or progressed over time?

You - Know, probably not age so much.

I'm kind of one of those ages in number.

I've got two little ones at home, so I've got a, a one and a 3-year-old.

And these little boys, I don't know if they're aging me quicker or keeping me younger either way, though.

They're definitely changing my perspective.

I love being a father and, and having them to go home to every night and wake up two in the morning is, is, has definitely changed my perspective.

I've always kind of been a big picture guy that I liked what the, the Haudenosaunee Native Americans in, in Central New York, which, you know, well, their perspective on policy policymaking was we don't lay something down as a policy unless we're thinking about the seventh generation.

And I've kind of always appreciated that big picture and long-term perspective in policymaking.

But there's something very personal about having a next generation in your home to realize that the things that you're doing today will have a direct impact.

- Are they weighing in on your policy positions yet?

- No.

No, but my, my three-year-old often sends me to work with a toy because he's worried that I'm going to get bored.

Oh.

Which is adorable.

So I'll, I'll have often have a monster truck or a Hot Wheels car in, in my office for the day.

- It's a good reminder.

I have to imagine though, when you see that, that car, that toy who you're working for at the end of the day.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- Your kids may think your job is boring.

Do you ever find it boring?

What, what drives you?

What keeps it exciting for you?

- No, it's always changing.

I mean, you look at the, you look at the New York State legislature and we've got eight to 10,000 bills that get introduced ideas for legislative changes introduced in a single legislative session.

So you really never know what you're gonna get.

There's all kinds of, from those 213 legislators across the state of New York, there's all kinds of ideas that come from all different demographics, all different areas of the state.

And you never really know what issue that you're going to be dealing with when you walk in the door.

And that's just the Albany side of things.

The most important part of the job is serving the people of the 49th Senate District up here, and they get to determine what my priorities are for the day.

So you never know what issue, what town supervisor or county legislator or village trustee is gonna call your office and say, bad news.

Here's where we need your help.

And the job is really to, to jump up and help 'em.

So, no, never a boring day.

- How have you used your experience?

You were a, a Watertown counselor, you served in the assembly and now the Senate.

How have those experiences, how have they scaffolded?

How have you been able to take a, a bit of each to, to to become a better senator today?

Better a, a lawmaker today?

- Yeah, I think so.

I, I certainly, especially the, the local government, I'm a true believer that government closer to the people serves them the best.

And so my experience on the Watertown City Council where, you know, spending time in the, in the diner, people are gonna grab you on whatever city issue or you know, that somebody's gonna pull you aside at church and bring up what they just saw on the news or on, yeah.

I think that government closer closest to the people.

You also had a very small on the Watertown City Council.

It's five member council.

So to have a majority, you just need two members to agree with you.

Pretty easy to get things done with that size of body.

A little bit more difficult as you move up the layers of government.

But I think that was, that was the design.

So I've certainly taken something from, from each layer, and I, I hope that it's making me, making me do a better job today.

- It, we're living through an era of such political divisiveness.

How are, how are you coping through that and, and how are, how are you having conversations with your colleagues on both sides of the aisle to sort of overcome that?

Or maybe you're not, I don't know.

Is it, is it important to have compromise?

Where do you stand there?

- I think it absolutely requires leadership.

You know, it's a, it's a mixed bag.

There's some, there's some legislators like from New York City, for example, and we have a New York state has a longstanding urban versus rural power balance issue, which I think we have to resolve as a state, and we need to bring that balance of power.

But there's New York City members that I couldn't disagree with more on most statewide policies, in political philosophies, but I could still have a cup of coffee with 'em in a great conversation.

We could come to a mutual understanding about the constituencies that we represent.

There's others that have decided that political division is the only route that there's a tyranny of the majority.

If we get elected, then we can make all of the rules.

And so I think as not just legislators and leaders, but also as a society, we really need to, to promote more togetherness and, and see the parties come closer together and see the, the, the people who are elected represent us all soul.

- You said something earlier, and I know this is something that came up when you served in the assembly, talking about your assembly district as America's front yard, front - Yard of America.

- Front yard of America.

- Yeah.

- Why did you coin that term?

And, and as we talk about relations with Canada now, and we have a sizable Canadian audience, I'm, I'm curious your perspective on the front yard of America today.

- Yeah.

Well, here's, so I will, I'll, I'll be in Albany sometimes and talk to members from various parts of the state.

And they've never heard of the thousand Islands before.

If they have, they've never been.

And don't even recognize how significantly amazing this area is.

And it occurred to me, you know, sometimes New York, like by policy treats upstate and, and treats Northern New York like it's the backyard, like, I don't know, throw the shed out there.

And, and instead, we really need to have this perspective because it's the truth.

This is the front yard of America.

This is the first impression that Canadians get when they come over the border.

We need to have the welcome mat out.

We need to have the lawn groomed and the leaves raked and give the absolute best impression because this is the impression of our, our nation and our state.

So yeah, I started calling my assembly district the, the front yard of America.

I, - I, I love that.

Let's talk about the future.

- Okay.

- You know, you've, you've climbed from counselor to as assemblyman to senator.

Is there another step for you in your political career, do you think?

- So by my philosophy, this is climbing down, the more - People you explain that climbing - Down, the more people that you work for, the, the, the lower you are on the totem pole.

So as a, as a state senator, I represent 318,000 people.

I work for all of them.

My staff works for, for all of them.

So I, I view it as actually moving down on the ladder, but I don't know what's in store.

I would say a balance of power in New York.

I know that that's how me and my team are mission focused.

The assembly, the senate, the governor's office, they're all in the same party currently and seem to be pretty focused on, on one party and on urban issues rather than policy that impacts all New Yorkers in a positive way.

So we really, and we've had balance in the past, we need to bring balance back to that power.

And I would say that's what's in my future, is making sure that that happens so that areas like the one that I represent have a, have a bright future in New York.

- Fantastic.

Senator Mark Mark Walczyk, it's been such a pleasure chatting with you, getting to know you better.

Really appreciate it.

- Yeah.

- Take care.

Thanks for joining us.

- Yeah, thanks for having me.

- 200 years after the Erie Canals opening a full scale replica of the Seneca Chief is retracing the original 1825 voyage from Buffalo to New York City, built by volunteers at the Buffalo Maritime Center.

The Boat's journey honors history, while confronting the Erie Canal's lasting impact on native land culture and the environment.

We learn more tonight about the voyage and its message, - The appeal of wooden boats is something beautiful that's functional, that has like a very deep appeal to a lot of people.

Even if they're not, they don't know much about it.

And, and they enjoy learning about how these things are made.

The Erie Canal that has a mysterious appeal, it's, it's almost in inexplicable, but people in upstate New York, just they, they have a fascination with it.

It's got a lot of symbolism.

It's a waterfront where there was none.

It represents connectivity.

- The first, the first actual proposal we made for building a canal boat in downtown Buffalo was 1997.

We were involved with historic preservation and trying to redevelop the harbor.

So this seemed like a great method or technique for doing it to build a canal boat, because this was a very much a piece of Buffalo's Buffalo's history.

- Normally on a small project, you'll get six or seven volunteers, and by the end of the project you'll probably have three of the originals and maybe two or three new ones.

Here.

We started out with maybe 45 volunteers, and by the end of the project, 65,000 hours later, we have 218 volunteers working on this project over a three and a half year period.

And we put a lot of planks on, over 200 planks on this boat, and those planks have to be put on there.

So good.

They keep water out.

And that was done by volunteers.

That is astonishing.

- It took a lot of research to figure out even what type of boat it was and what it might have looked like.

And I think people are interested in that story because we're taking, we're going back in time and taking all this research and compiling it into something that you can actually now see represented physically.

- When we first began, we wanted to build a boat to commemorate the bicentennial of the area canal.

And we thought that we could lift up the craftsmanship of the day and bring it back into modern times.

But once we started lofting the boat and all that stuff, the whole project started to expand to take on the story of the Erie Canal and the narrative of the Erie Canal.

And we started learning much more about it.

And that was largely inspired by the name of the boat, Seneca chief.

It's been an education to deal to, to work with this whole project, especially when it comes to the name.

Now, when we first started going, we were questioning whether or not even we should name the boat Seneca chief.

And, you know, with times being what they are and just understanding like why would they name this boat?

We wanted to find out, we wanted to see if there was some history out there that said this boat was named Seneca chief because - Brian and his team got ahold of me about five years ago asking about the name.

And, you know, I did my, my research on Clinton over my lifetime because that dispossession of New York, oh, it used to be Haudenosaunee lands.

And so that dispossession of lands has kept me interested in state history when in fact, I'm not really interested in state history.

I just need to know that to understand the story.

And so when Brian got ahold of me, you know, it was really, it took me down another path of the Clinton family and trying to understand that and come to terms with like, yeah, why did they name it the Seneca Chief?

And as far as we know, we don't know.

You know, I think it has something to do with it being built on Seneca Lake.

I think it has something to do with Clinton's interest in indigenous cultures and flora and f of New York, that he was also kind of given it a sense of like honor.

So I think there's a little bit of everything in that.

That's kind of what I want to do in my role as a historian and cultural anthropologist, is to begin using those moments of the past to change our present and hopefully our future.

And, and that's what I'm excited about with Brian in the Maritime Center, is that they actually do that.

And you don't see it a lot.

- And the name came up again, where should we even use this name?

Well, we started realizing that number one, the name was called Seneca Chief.

You should not change history, right?

But we've chosen to make this boat and to build this boat.

Why did we do that?

Because we did understand that the bicentennial is an important thing for the United States.

But this is an opportunity to talk and to broaden the perspective and broaden the narrative of the Erie Canal.

It's our hope that as we go down our 28 stops all the way to New York City, we are going to be connecting with communities all along the way in our ports to talk with them.

Not only about how we built this boat.

'cause that's, I mean, we are a maritime facility here.

We're a maritime museum.

We build boats, but we find ourselves in the front of this almost historical change that we're seeing here.

We're going to connect and, and have conversations not only about what the Erie Canal is and was, but also about the role of indigenous culture and history throughout this story as well.

- And so if it's going to serve a symbolic purpose, then how do we make it more tangible for the other people who don't feel part of it?

And that starts with a discussion and a conversation because this is a chance for us to learn from the past of where we weren't inclusive in the inclusion of other voices - That does it for this Tuesday night.

Join us next time for a fresh look inside the Stories multi-talented artist, Cassidy Thomas stops by the studio to share her path as a self-published author, then at King's Lot Craft Distillery.

Every bottle tells a story crafted by hand using local certified organic grains and sustainable practices.

Also learn about a powerful music festival that brings unheard stories of the Erie Canal to life.

Meantime, if you have a story idea you'd like us to explore, we would love to learn more.

All you need to do is drop us an email at wpbs weekly@wpbstv.org, and let's share it with the region.

That's it for tonight.

Everyone have a safe evening.

Until next time, take care.

- WPBS weekly Inside the stories is brought to you by - When you're unable to see your primary care provider.

The Carthage Walk-in Clinic is here for you, located off Route 26 across from Carthage Middle School.

Comfort and Healing close to home when you need it most - North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us.

North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- We are the north country.

We're protecting one another, like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the north country Strong, at claxtonhepburn.org.

Today, - Select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide Community Regrant program, a re-grant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State legislator administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.

- That's kind of what I wanna do in my role as a historian and cultural anthropologist, is to begin using those moments of the past to change our present and hopefully our future.

And, and that's what I'm excited about with Brian in the Maritime Center, is that they actually do that.