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RIVER DAY and THE GREAT RIVER DAY FLOTILLA
A NEW YORK STATE QUADRICENTENNIAL SIGNATURE EVENT FOR THE HUDSON VALLEY
Photo by Jeff Ancevino, Scenic Hudson
Pride in New York’s great history and a commitment to a sustainable economic and environmental future for the Hudson River Valley were in evidence among the thousands of residents and tourists who turned out to welcome the fleet of New York heritage ships in its stately parade from the Statue of Liberty to Albany, following the course of Henry Hudson’s voyage 400 years ago.
An estimated 100,000 spectators on land and over 1500 boaters joined in the festivities saluting and celebrating the flotilla during its 8-day, 120 mile nautical trip retracing that famous world changing journey. Whether cheering the flotilla, visiting the ships at dockside or hearing the tales told by the captains of the famous replica ships, nearly 100 events commemorated the River Day theme, demonstrating the power of the Hudson to serve as the centerpiece of the region’s $4.5 billion tourism industry.
Starting with Governor David Paterson’s official launch of River Day with the Blessing of the Fleet, organizations including Battery Park, Cloisters, the Hudson River Museum, Marist College, FDR Home and Library, Mills Mansion, Vanderbilt Mansion, Bard College, Scenic Hudson and Clermont Estate mobilized staff and visitors out to watch the flotilla parade by. Hudson River Maritime Museum had a huge welcome celebration and West Point honored the flotilla with the highest 16 cannon salute
New Jersey towns, Yonkers, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Philipse Manor, Haverstraw, Croton and Ossining, Stonypoint, Peekskill, Garrison and Cold Spring, Highland Falls, Cornwall and New Hamburg, Tivoli, Coxsackie, Coeymans, Bethlehem, and Schodack-all had historic record numbers packed along the river bank to cheer, ring church bells, blast cannons, and sound sirens. Nyack, Tarrytown, Piermont, Newburgh, Beacon, Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park, Rhinecliff, Kingston, Catskill, Athens, Hudson, Castleton, and Renssalaer hosted the ships overnight, fed the crews, and looked after the ships.
Private porches and balconies, yards full of lawn chaired spectators declaring: This is better than TV!, countless barbeques, picnics and parties lined the riverbank.
School children by the busload, a class from Saugerties came out by boat to greet the Captain of the Half Moon with a special Quadricentennial flag honoring our 400th. Pete Seeger singing valley ballads, Jay Unger and Molly Mason, the CIA made a Quadricentennial cake, and the Half Moon cut a river-wide ribbon.
Among the flotilla participants there were; Captains’ of the Half Moon and the New Netherland Museum, Clearwater, Onrust and the New Netherland Institute, John J Harvey Fireboat, Governor Cleveland tug and the Canal Corporation, Woody Guthrie and the Beacon Sloop Club, the Naval Militia, the United States Coast Guard, Riverkeeper, Classic Harbor Lines, Manhattan By Sail, CircleLine, SeaTow, Water Taxi, North Cove Yacht Club, Discover Boating and our amazing safety boat, Launch 5. The crew and captains of these ships and boats loved the crowds as much as the crowds loved them-from Day One to Day Eight, they were always waving, singing and sounding deafening horns!
The backbone of the volunteer force of over 1000 people, came from all the wholehearted support of boat clubs, yacht clubs and marinas of the river who coordinated a boat ballet sending their memberships out in waves to escort the historic centennial journey.
The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome joined the flotilla every good day making formation fly-overs reminding all of us on the ground of the famous first flight over water by Wilbur Wright 100 years ago up the Hudson River. A River Day wedding happened on day seven, after a double rainbow (without rain!) greeted the flotilla, followed by the second fireworks display over the water sponsored by Coeymans Marine Terminal.
The leading river environmental organizations; Scenic Hudson, Clearwater and Riverkeeper chose River Day as their backdrop to articulate their common goals for the coming Quadricentennial decade – a cleaner river, protected parklands, and a new generation of environmental leaders.
Could this passion and intensive nostalgia be turned into a sustainable valley event bringing along some economic sustenance and more environmental awareness? Shall we band together and model Seattle and countless other water-connected communities who have made an annual opening day the biggest day of the year?
The boaters say they have wanted to establish an annual opening day, the towns say they want to celebrate the river with their neighbors, and the local historians say that it is high time to have a valley- wide tradition set in stone for the next one hundred years!
River Day has launched the Quad events for the remainder of this auspicious year and made New York’s Quadricentennial a household word in the valley. Perhaps more importantly, River Day has shown that at the end of 2009, we will not say goodbye to the quad, but instead say “see you next June at River Day! “
And Bravo!, huge applause, and thank you to everyone in the valley who played a part in launching this great tradition.
Tara Sullivan
New York’s 400th Celebration!
We have the rare centennial privilege of celebrating our great state’s 400th anniversary. 2009 marks the dual 400th anniversaries of the voyage of English Captain Henry Hudson, who led (for the Dutch) the first European expedition to sail up the river that now bears his name, and Frenchman Samuel de Champlain, the first European to gaze upon the waters of the namesake lake. To celebrate these simultaneous quadricentennials – as well as the 200th anniversary of Robert Fulton’s maiden journey up the Hudson River on the first successful steamboat – New York State and its many communities have planned a yearlong series of events. Starting from the harbor of the big apple to our state capitol and up to Quebec we are focusing on the commemoration of the Discovery of New York, celebrating our Dutch, French and English roots and heritage. While we are at it, we are celebrating who we are, unique among other states, with the notable distinction of our embrace of diversity, tolerance and innovation. Most important of all, we are utilizing all of the state resources and agencies to map out a planned legacy of environmental and economic sustainability so that the 500th anniversary of New York is assured. Our slogan: New York’s 400th-celebrating the past, planning for the future!
Our planning for the future includes the New York State Quadricentennial Legacy Projects.
The first at Governors Island, the site of one of New York’s first Dutch settlements and a strategic 19th-century coastal fortification. This legacy project will allow visitors to have access to the entire perimeter promenade for the first time, and will create a park area with unparalleled views of the Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor, and the Manhattan skyline. The second, eighty-five miles up the Hudson River, where a world destination will be established when the “Walkway Over the Hudson” finishes the transformation of the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge into a spectacular “park in the sky” linking the river’s two shorelines with a 6,767-foot iron span creating the longest elevated walkway in the world. On Lake Champlain, the state is finishing a full restoration of the historic Crown Point Lighthouse . Soon, its beacon will shine again over the stabilized ruins of two nearby forts – Crown Point and St. Frederic – that symbolize the region’s English and French heritage.
By the end of the month, we will have delivered the 400th! flag to every school, town, village, city and county, library, historic and cultural institution in New York City, and the Hudson and Champlain Valleys. These groups can now boast that over 1000 of their Quadricentennial events have been listed on the ExploreNY400.com website. These event highlights include:
River Day!New York Harbor and Hudson Valley-(June 5-13)
Festival of Nations and Crown Point Historic Site Opening-Lake Champlain (September 19)
Governors Island Dutch Festival-New York City (September 13)
Walkway-Over-the-Hudson Grand Opening-Poughkeepsie (October 3)
We are working to help assist all of the libraries as they stock up on Dutch, and New York history books establishing Quadricentennial bookshelves, every Chamber of Commerce as they rally business leaders to co-host events and projects, and the many tourism/visitor bureaus as they work to sponsor welcoming and worthy-of-the-day celebrations, tours and expositions.
The media and regional publications have prepared to devote the whole year on recording this grand commemoration to be memorialized for future generations. Bike and water trail events, yacht races, boat shows, rowing relays the length of the Hudson, and serious competitive kayak races are scheduled including the circumnavigation of Manhattan by international competitors.
4th, 5th, and 7th grade classes are including curriculums of New York’s 400th incorporating what the State Education Department has prepared as well as more than a dozen others prepared by puppeteers, acting troops, the National Parks Service program “Teaching the Hudson Valley”, the NYS DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program and most notably Captain Reynolds of Henry Hudson’s replica ship, the Half Moon.
The Port Authority will soon install 400th banners throughout their airports, as will the Bridge Authority on Hudson Valley bridges. MTA has designated all Hudson River train stations and ferries-Quadricentennial stops and boats; and all of New York State’s thruway and canal stops will fly the 400th flag!
West Point has plans for a 400th commemorative concert in June with the West Point Band; and all of our colleges and universities, our great museums and cultural institutions, and the many New York sports teams and clubs, all have planned quad events and programs.
The first New York Medal of Discovery will be awarded by Governor Paterson to a distinguished New Yorker as a befitting inaugural event of the Quadricentennial, and the state is host to an International Stamp Expoon the Albany Concourse on the exact day, 100 years later, that the Henry Hudson stamp, a hugely valuable collector’s item was released. The original 1909 commemorative Henry Hudson stamp will be on loan for the show from the National Museum in Washington.
Macy’s has commissioned the Hudson score for the NY Pops to be played at their Quadricentennial Fourth of July event, there are plans for the NATO ships to join the US armed services for Fleet Week in the harbor and we helped sponsor a Quadricentennial sustainability show in the central hall of the American Museum of Natural History this past January for over 10,000 families.
We are looking forward to hosting and welcoming members of the Dutch Royal family to join us for a variety of events in September in New York City, the Hudson Valley and Albany as we did 50 years ago when Queen Beatrix, then Princess Beatrix, paid a commemorative royal visit.
The ever growing list of commemorative events and projects goes on and on. This list will have weekly updates on this website. We are also producing a quarterly e-newsletter featuring valley wide developments-we welcome your announcements for both.
To all of the people of the Champlain Valley, the Hudson Valley and the great city of New York (formerly New Amsterdam) please sign on as we celebrate the most memorable moment in our lifetimes, extraordinary in our state’s history!
NEWSFLASH!!!
Developing details for the NYS Signature event River Day…
Hudson Valley leaders in the boating and waterfront communities including the major Hudson River organizations, have set the schedule for the first annual Hudson River Day and for its beginning to come about as a Quadricentennial legacy event. The enthusiasm and comradery has been the main ingredient to collectively start what will be the premier and linear event in the valley to commemorate 400 years of history of the river, boats and ships, and friends.
The date is set for Hudson River Day to traditionally take place the first week end of June when boat owners typically uncover and spruce up their boats and get on the water. We are very grateful to the Holland Society’s President and his wife for their guidance for this event based on their important involvement with the Seattle Opening Day which we are using as a model.
For 2009, June 6th will be the official day although the celebration and events will be spread out over a few days to accommodate the signature event, the Relay Flotilla.
The flotilla will start the morning of June 6th with the boat and yacht clubs of Manhattan and New York City being the first to send out their memberships around the tip of Manhattan and coming round the statue of liberty led up the river by our New York State heritage flagships tracing Henry Hudson’s path to Albany.
At this time, we have commitments from the flagships; the famous Onrust, Clearwater, the Woody Guthrie, the Half Moon and the Mystic Whaler.
The events along the river at the boat and yacht clubs, the cultural institutions and museums, and all of the waterfront parks will have appeal and activities for everyone as the summer begins an entire season of celebration. We are working to build the land components with parks, the Harbor District in NYC, and countless others. We will host a “launch” celebration in the city the night before the Relay Flotilla as a celebration of New York’s heritage flagships, and then, a welcoming ceremony when the flotilla arrives in Albany.
The promotion of River Day was the centerpiece of the New York National Boat Show this past December with lots of boaters signing on at the show.
That “sign-on” was inspired by the shows greatest exhibit. The exhibit is of the building of the Onrust! This is an exact replica of the first ship (Dutch of course!) built in Manhattan, the first sailing vessel in the United States.
The Onrust will be one of the flagship symbols and national launch of New York's 400th anniversary! The first in a series of fantastic events throughout 2009 to celebrate New York's 400 years of shared history with the Dutch exemplified by the greatest ship building in the world and throughout world history.
Please go to our River Day link to sign on for this great commemorative event!
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