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Riverkeepers & Clearwater Leaders Remember Pete Seeger (1919 - 2014)
From Danny LoPriore, Rye Daily Voice, January 28, 2014
Beacon, N.Y. -- A true friend of the Hudson River and its valley where he lived for 70 years, legendary folk singer/songwriter and political and social activist Pete Seeger is being remembered for his many contributions to his nation after passing away at age 94.
Seeger and his wife Toshi, who died in July 2013, founded Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., and the Great Hudson River Revival, the annual music and environmental festival that takes place at Croton Point Park in Croton. The Seegers lived in Beacon, New York, on the Hudson River for 40 years.
The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, the Beacon-based environmental group that shares its name with its sailing vessel, took a leading role in passage of the Clean Water Act, the fight to make General Electric Co. remove PCBs from the river mud and a number of other key chapters in the Hudson’s history.
Clearwater Communications Director Julia Church said "Pete planted the seed that started Hudson River SloopClearwater with the belief that a majestic replica of the sloops that sailed the Hudson in the 18th and 19th centuries would bring people to the river where they could experience its beauty and be moved to preserve it."
"The sloop Clearwater has become recognized for its role in the environmental movement," Church wrote. "And thanks to Pete Seeger, the over 12,000 school kids who sail each year will never see the river in the same way that they did before their voyage. Perhaps more importantly, they will be moved to protect the river every time they look at it."
Leaders of the river’s other influential organizations — the state’s Hudson River Estuary Program, Ossining-based Riverkeeper, Scenic Hudson — got their start on board the Clearwater.
Riverkeeper President Paul Gallay said the conservation organization is pledged to "carry on his work and make the most of the gifts he left us."
"Pete Seeger was unique in that he was a musical genius, and courageous in his beliefs and a generous man with a heart as big as anyone's," Gallay said. "Pete will go on inspiring those who endeavor to heal us humans and our one lonely planet, long after we say our final goodbyes to the man himself."
The Riverkeeper group conducts water quality studies aboard the "Riverkeeper" patrol boat. The primary goal of this ongoing project is to characterize and report on the highly variable conditions of the Hudson River Estuary through testing for sewage indicating microorganisms, oxygen and turbidity levels, and other indicators of water quality. - - -
See more at: http://www.riverkeeper.org/water-quality/hudson/#sthash.UTOYZJqo.dpuf
"River Of My People"
By Pete Seeger
There's a river of my people And its flow is swift and strong, Flowing to some mighty ocean, Though its course is deep and long. Flowing to some mighty ocean, Though its course is deep and long.
Many rocks and reefs and mountains Seek to bar it from its way. But relentlessly this river Seeks its brothers in the sea. But relentlessly this river Seeks its brothers in the sea.
You will find us in the mainstream, Steering surely through the foam, Far beyond the raging waters We can see our certain home. Far beyond the raging waters We can see our certain home.
For we have mapped this river And we know its mighty force And the courage that this gives us Will hold us to our course. And the courage that this gives us Will hold us to our course.
Oh, river of my people, Together we must go, Hasten onward to that meeting Where my brothers wait I know. Hasten onward to that meeting Where my sisters wait I know.