The Lyons Chamber of Commerce and Lyons Main Street Program are excited to be awarding Mark DeCracker 2018 Citizen of the Year. Mark has been an advocate for the Town of Lyons and the Finger Lakes region for a lifetime. Mark attended FLCC, MCC and Arizona State University, graduating in 1977 with a degree in Outdoor Recreation. Mark worked as a recreation leader at Alex Eligh Community Center from 1977-79 and Finger Lakes DDSO from 1979-2010 as a sr. recreation therapist, retiring in 2010. Mark started a video business, Past and Present Personal Videos, from 1988 to present. Along with his wife, Diane, opened the Peppermint Cottage B&B in 1997.
In addition to working, Mark founded E.R.I.E, (Erie’s Restoration Interests Everyone) in 1988. E.R.I.E is an organization that works for the revitalization and restoration of the Erie Canal. Mark was president of the Lyons Chamber of Commerce from 2006-2010.
In 2007, along with the late Noel Dobbins, Mark founded Mural Mania (The Preservation of History through Community Art). As a result of the success of Mural Mania, we now have the longest mural trail in the world along the Erie Canal. This success led to Mural Mania being selected to host the 2016 Global Mural Conference in Fairport. This past summer, working with James Zeger and students from Newark, completed the latest mural, the “Rose Garden,” in Newark. In 2010, Mural Mania received the Erie Canalway Award of Excellence Honorable Mention for Mural Mania.
Mark, in 2011, founded the “Forever Wild for Everyone”, accessibility trails into nature. One of these trails, the Trail of Hope in Lyons, received the “Outside the Box” award from Parks and Trails of New York and the Erie Canalway Award of Excellences Honorable Mention.
Currently, Mark is president of Trail Works, Inc., an organization that is dedicated to the development and enjoyment of hiking trails in Wayne County. As an avid hiker and skier, Mark joined the, ”Adirondack 46er” club, finishing in 1986.
Mark and Diane have three daughters; Jessica, Colleen and Hannah. Hannah will graduate from Lyons High School this year. They also enjoy their three grandchildren, Anderson, Cal, and Brianna. They live in a cobblestone schoolhouse that was opened in 1831.
The Citizen of the Year dinner honoring Mark will be held on April 8, 2019, at Maitre d’s at Trombino’s. Tickets are available at Dobbins Drugs, 52 William St. and at the Lyons Main Street Office, 70 William St. Contact Lyons Main Street Program at 315-871-4220 with any questions.
