In a ceremony on July 9 at Ossining’s Gerlach Park, Dustin Hofer (left) of Briarcliff Boy Scout Troop 18 was awarded his Eagle Scout badge, the highest rank in scouting, for planning and carrying out construction of a stairway connecting the park with the Old Croton Aqueduct (see Friends newsletter no. 37, Winter 2011, for a full description). The stairway creates convenient access to the north end of the Aqueduct and to Croton Gorge County Park and the New Croton Dam, since Gerlach Park has plenty of parking as well as restroom facilities. The walk is about two and a half miles to the dam.
The Yonkers Green Policy Task Force awarded Aquefest Producer, Eileen Charles a Greenie Award at the their 3rd Annual Greenie Award Night at the Beczak Environmental Center on June 1st. The “Greenies” are a mock Oscar green tie/green carpet event honoring those who live or work in Yonkers and who make an effort to preserve the environment.
Members of The Friends gathered last week at Mavis' house to watch a DVD from the BBC series Filthy Cities. The BBC produced a series of 3 films called "Filthy Cities", covering the great cities of the world before the arrival of clean water and other ways of keeping clean and odor-free!
The BBC crew came to the Aqueduct in October of 2010 and filmed inside the tunnel. The production team sent us the DVD of the film on NYC - so we all gathered at Mavis' house to watch and and applaud our own Aqueduct.
One of the many schools that had a field trip to the Aqueduct was the International School at 318 Eugenio Mariade Hostos in NYC. This group was specializing in environmental studies, led by Biologist, artist, education consultant, Nim Lee (check her website for her amazing talents.)
Painters love the Aqueduct Trail because it's so beautiful, in any season.
On May 28, Mavis Cain led a group of walkers on the trail in Yonkers, making a detour into Untermyer Park to see the artistic gardens, so colorful, as well as the amazing sculptures brought here by Untermyer, who also commissioned sculpture to be done here.
