Replica Ship Half Moon Seeks Volunteers

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Captain W.T. &#8220Chip&#8221 Reynolds of the replica ship Half Moon has put out a call for volunteer sailing crew, cooks, and dockside tour guides for the rest of August, September, October, and early November. The 85-foot replica of the ship Henry Hudson sailed while exploring the Hudson River in 1609 has a volunteer crew of 15 and was built in Albany, N.Y. in 1989 to commemorate the Dutch role in exploring and colonizing America. The Half Moon replica has six sails on three masts, sporting 2,757 square feet of canvas. It’s equipped with six cannons and four anchors.

The original ship, called the Halve Maen, was commissioned on March 25, 1609 for the Dutch East India Company. The company hired Hudson, an Englishman, to search for a passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He thought he had found that passage when he sailed up the river that now bears his name. In making his trip up the river, Hudson claimed the area for the Dutch and opened the land for settlers who followed. His voyage came 10 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. For general information about the replica Half Moon check the 2009 Event Schedule at
www.halfmoon.mus.ny.us.

Contact Karen Preston by e-mail at [email protected] if you are interested in volunteering with any of these activities:

August 23-27, the Half Moon will sail from Athens, NY, to Staten Island (see
item 2). A cook is needed for the voyage to Staten Island, and while
dockside in Staten Island- most sailing crew positions are filled, but one
or two slots may open.

August 27-September 1, help is needed with a variety of activities,
including set-up of ship on August 28, 30, 31 and Sept. 1- help with
managing or leading tours of the Half Moon on Saturday, August 29 and 31.

September 5-26, a cook is needed to help with the Voyage of Discovery from
New York Harbor to Albany.

September 23-28, help is needed to set up the Half Moon and prepare for the
festival on Sept. 26, and to help manage visitors and lead tours in Albany
on Sept. 26, and to help break down the ship and historical displays on
Sept. 28.

October 8-16, a cook is needed to help with the Masters Voyage of Discovery
to Yonkers, NY.

October 16-31, volunteers are needed to help set up the Half Moon for public
tours from October 16-31, and to help lead tours both weekdays and weekends
in Yonkers, NY.

November 1-10, volunteers are needed to help set up the Half Moon for public
tours on November 1, and to help lead tours daily from Monday, Nov. 2
through Sunday, Nov. 8, and to help break the ship down on November 9 and
10.

November 10, volunteer crew are needed to help move the Half Moon to winter
berthing at King Marine, Verplanck, NY.

Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up

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  • Ephemeral New York: The New York Sun’s “Great Moon Hoax” of 1835
  • Progressive Historians: The Myth of Woodstock
  • Huffington Post: Helicopter Crashes In NYC History (Photos)
  • Walking Off the Big Apple: New York Museum Exhibitions, Fall 2009
  • US History Blog: What Would Teddy Roosevelt Think About Michael Vick?
  • Virtual Dime Museum: The Live and Let Live Oyster Saloon
  • Bovina History: Was Bovina Butter Served at the White House?

    • 28th Annual Iroquois Indian Festival Sept. 5-6

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    The Iroquois Indian Museum of Howes Cave, New York, announces the 28th Annual Iroquois Indian Festival to be held on Labor Day weekend, Saturday, September 5 through Sunday, September 6. The two-day festival’s goal is to foster a greater appreciation and deeper understanding of Iroquois culture through presentations of Iroquois music and social dance, traditional stories, artwork, games and food. This year’s master of ceremonies will be Museum Educator, Mike Wahrare Tarbell, a member of the Turtle Clan from the Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Nation.

    The annual festival centers on the celebration of Iroquois creativity and self-expression by featuring an all Iroquois Indian Art Market open to Iroquois artists by special invitation only. Both traditional and contemporary arts are showcased.

    This year we celebrate the return of Santee Smith (Mohawk, Turtle Clan). Santee is from the Six Nations Reserve, where she has gained recognition as both a performing artist (dance) and as a visual artist (pottery). She will be presenting excerpts from her two major works, “Kaha:wi” and “A Story Before Time”. Santee will be performing with Emily Law and, for the first time, with her daughter, Semiah Smith. We are very pleased to be able to welcome Santee, Emily and Semiah to this year’s Festival.

    The Sky Dancers from Six Nations Reserve in Ontario will perform traditional Iroquois social dances, and may invite the public out onto the dance floor to participate, as well. The Children’s Tent will feature arts & crafts activities including beadwork and cornhusk doll making. Local wildlife rehabilitator Kelly Martin will be available to discuss wildlife conservation in our bioregion and will present a variety of wild animals including birds of prey along with a special presentation in the Museum’s outdoor amphitheater. Pamela Brown “Wolf Teacher” returns to promote understanding and awareness of wolves and the importance of their survival with a display of educational and informational materials and fundraising items. Other special features include displays and demonstrations on genealogy, archeology, and flintknapping led by talented and knowledgeable Iroquois Museum volunteers.

    Food is an important part of any culture, and a full array of Native foods will be available for purchase provided by Frank and Pam Ramsey from Onondaga. Delicious traditional entrees include buffalo burgers, Indian tacos, venison sausage, roasted corn soup and frybread.

    The Festival will be held at the Iroquois Indian Museum on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM each day, rain or shine. Performances will take place in the Museum’s outdoor covered amphitheater and the artists participating in the art-market will be set up in adjacent tents.

    The Iroquois Indian Museum is located just 35 miles west of Albany New York, near the intersection of highways 7 and 145. Take exit 22 from Interstate 88 and follow the signs. There is a fee for entrance to the Festival grounds. For more information call the Museum at (518) 296-8949, or go to the Museum’s website at www.iroquoismuseum.org.

    Revisiting Great Literature With Penguin Classics on Air

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    “Penguin Classics On Air” is an online radio series devoted to the discussion and exploration of some of Penguin Classics’ more than 1400 titles from many eras, cultures and regions of the world. The program is hosted by Penguin Classics Editorial Director Elda Rotor and features in-depth conversations on new, timely and rediscovered classics between Elda Rotor or Classics editor John Siciliano and scholars, translators, or experts of a specific Penguin Classic.

    The show wraps up with Associate Publisher Stephen Morrison offering a sampling of the Classic by reading the first pages from one of the works discussed. In addition, each episode of “Penguin Classics On Air” features a review by Alan Walker, Senior Director of Academic Marketing, on one of the Classics he’s recently read, as he fulfills his mission to read one Penguin Classic by an author per letter of the alphabet from A to Z.

    As a sample of the goods, take a look at The Birth of Knickerbocker: Washington Irving’s A History of New York. Elda Rotor interviews Betsy Bradley, the introducer and editor of Washington Irving’s A History of New York , Irving’s popular first book is an early nineteenth century satirical novel of colonial New Amsterdam. It follows the fictional historian Diedrich Knickerbocker as he narrates the development of New York cultural life—from the creation of the doughnut to the creation of Wall Street. Alan Walker introduces listeners to The Emigrants by Gilbert Imlay and Stephen Morrison offers up the opening to Washington Irving’s beloved story “Rip Van Winkle.” in his segment, “First Pages.”

    The Adirondack Guide at the Adirondack Museum

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    Don Williams, storyteller, author, and retired Adirondack guide, will deliver a presentation entitled &#8220Adirondack Guides&#8221 at the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake Monday, August 24. Part of the museum’s Monday Evening Lecture series, the presentation will be held in the Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. There is no charge for museum members. Admission is $5.00 for non-members.

    William’s program will include the portrayal of a historic Adirondack farmer-lumberman-guide, Adirondack humor as found in folk tales, and the introduction of skunk oil, ginseng, and spruce gum, as well as traditional Adirondack skills and tools well known by guides. He will focus on the role played by jack-of-all trade Adirondackers in opening up and popularizing the rugged North Country with sportsmen and tourists.

    Don Williams (that’s him above) is known throughout New York State for his Adirondack storytelling, sharing the lives of Adirondack settlers and visitors through oral histories and humorous tales. He has been an Adirondack lecturer and storyteller at schools and organizations throughout the Northeast for more than forty years.

    A retired teacher, school principal, and Adirondack guide, Williams has provided presentations about the Adirondacks at elementary and high schools, colleges, libraries, and Elderhostel programs.

    Williams is the author of nine books about Adirondack and local history. He has written more than 250 articles for magazines including Adirondack Life and the Journal of Outdoor Education. He served as Adirondack regional editor for New York Sportsman for twenty years. His &#8220Inside the Blueline&#8221 column has appeared weekly in four regional newspapers since 1989.

    Williams hosted an Adirondack television show in Gloversville and Glens Falls, N.Y. for six years and appears in the PBS documentary, The Adirondacks, produced by WNED Buffalo.

    A Program On Americas Only World War II Refugee Camp

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    Sixty-five years ago 982 people arrived at Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY. They would stay the next 18 months at the only World War II refugee camp on American soil. On August 20th at 6 pm in Sackets Harbor, Safe Haven President Elizabeth A. Kahl will share the story of those 982 “guests” of President Franklin D. Roosevelt from August 1944 to February 1946. The program is part of the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center.

    Kahl, who has served on the board of the nonprofit that administers the Safe Haven Museum and Education Center in Oswego since 1999, said in a press release that “The maelstrom that was World War II had millions of fugitives fleeing for their lives in Europe. A continent away, Oswego, New York on the shores of Lake Ontario was to play a unique role in history as the small community who gave 982 people shelter and hope.”

    First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt is among those who visited the refugees at the fort.

    The $5 admission to the August 20th program benefits the Seaway Trail Foundation and its educational programming.

    Finger Lakes Museum Site Submission Process Closed

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    The Board of Trustees of the Finger Lakes Cultural & Natural History Museum have officially closed the site submission process. Nineteen potential building sites were proposed by seven Finger Lakes Region counties and the City of Geneva before the deadline of July 15th.

    Counties that submitted proposals include Cayuga, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, and Yates. The City of Geneva is partnering with Seneca County on a site that straddles the Ontario/Seneca county line at the north end of Seneca Lake.

    The deadline, which had been originally set for June 15th, was extended by the board for 30 days to give some counties more time to complete title searches. The sites are now being toured and evaluated by the project’s Site Selection Committee.

    A question arose concerning a 20th site being added to the list when a landowner inquired about submitting a parcel in Ontario County. The board considered the inquiry but determined that the deadline should be upheld in fairness to the counties that worked hard to make submissions on time, according to a press release issued last week. The landowner is not being identified.

    The search for a building site has ramped up the level of excitement for the initiative to develop a cultural and natural history museum to showcase the 9,000 square-mile Finger Lakes Region.

    Thomas Cole Historic Site Gets $1 Million Bequest

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    The Thomas Cole Historic Site has announced that it has received a bequest of $1,000,000 from the estate of Raymond Beecher (1917–2008), a guiding light in the preservation of the Thomas Cole Site as well as countless other historic properties in the area. The newly established Raymond and Catharine Beecher Memorial Fund will be used for the maintenance of the buildings and grounds of Cedar Grove, the 19th- century home of Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole.

    The bequest is restricted to funding the maintenance of the building and grounds of the Thomas Cole Historic Site, and only a portion of the interest may be used each year so that the principal will endure. Were it not for Raymond Beecher, who passed away in October at the age of 91, there might not be a Cedar Grove today. When the property was up for sale and possibly headed for demolition, Beecher put up his own money to buy the property and begin the restoration process. According to Thomas Cole Historic Site Executive Director Elizabeth Jacks, “It might not have happened without him. He led the charge. So we are delighted that his legacy lives on in a way that helps maintain the site he loved so much.”

    Raymond Beecher was a soldier, educator, historian, writer, philanthropist, and public servant. He was the Chairman of the Greene County Historical Society and the Greene County Historian for many years. He was a leader in the establishment of the Vedder Library – a collection of important pieces of Greene County history. Beecher was a World War II veteran serving in both Europe and the Pacific. He wrote several books and for many years wrote a weekly column in local newspapers. He was declared a “Greene County Treasure” by the County Legislature in 2007.

    Cedar Grove is the historic name for the Thomas Cole Historic Site, a non-profit organization that preserves and interprets the site where the artist Thomas Cole lived, worked, was married, and where he died at the age of 47. Today the site consists of the Federal style brick home (c. 1815) in which Thomas Cole resided with his family, as well as the artist’s original studio building, on five landscaped acres with a magnificent view of the Catskill Mountains.

    Photo: Raymond Beecher in the grounds of his beloved Cedar Grove. Photo Richard Philp.