National Award Honoring Quilt Show Founder Teresa Mitchell to be Presented March 17

Deborah Divine, Co-Executive Director of the National Scenic Byway Foundation (NSBF) Board of Directors, will visit Sackets Harbor from Salinas, Kansas, to present the family of the late Teresa Mitchell with the NSBF’s first Lifetime Service to Byways Award.

The Award is being named in Teresa’s honor and she will be its first winner, having earned it with indeed a lifetime of service to promoting the concept of byways as an American touring tradition and as a vital economic engine for our local, state and national economies.  She guided the Great Lakes Seaway Trail to become America’s leading model of byway development.

Teresa served from 2005-2010 as the first Chairperson of the NSBF that she helped form in 2005 on behalf of all of America’s Byways nationwide. 

This presentation is part of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail War of 1812 Bicentennial Quilt Show, developed by Teresa Mitchell as a cultural heritage tourism event promoting travel the length of the 518-mile National Scenic Byway in NY and PA.

The event has expanded this year to include three historic venues in the village of Sackets Harbor and costumed living history interpreters.  Along with 1812 period-correct quilts from 18 U.S. states and across Canada, there will be a special exhibit of quilts, including the 1812 quilt pictured below, all made by Teresa Mitchell who passed away in January 2012.