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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: John Kelley / Marketing Manager / [email protected] KINGSTON, NY – In continuing its mission to preserve the history of the Hudson River while creating a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive waterfront for all to enjoy, Hudson River Maritime Museum has launched the 2025 Year End Appeal campaign. Contributions made to the Year End Appeal help us continue our mission to preserve the history of the Hudson River while creating a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive waterfront for all to enjoy. Your support makes a difference! Established in 1979, HRMM is a multi-functioning education hub and dynamic working waterfront. HRMM's campus is home to an extensive collection of maritime artifacts and historic vessels, the Woodworking School, the Sailing School, a marina with public docking, the solar-powered tour boat, Solaris and the Homeport Barn public events space. Additionally, the museum operates the Rondout Lighthouse — the last of three lighthouses marking the entrance to the Rondout Creek — accessible only via HRMM guided boat tours. Whether you support the 2025 Year End Appeal, become a member, make a recurring gift, become a business supporter, or volunteer your time, your generosity makes a direct impact and helps to strengthen our mission. Learn more about the HRMM 2025 Year End Appeal and other ways to support HRMM at hrmm.org/ways-to-give. The Hudson River Maritime Museum is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which relies upon donations and memberships for daily operations. The museum does not receive any municipal, state, or federal funding, except through competitive, project-based grants. For more information about the Hudson River Maritime Museum, please visit hrmm.org, Like HRMM on Facebook, or call 845.338.0071 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: John Kelley / PR & Marketing Manager / [email protected] Program Title: The Keeper (Close Up w/dir. Jon Bowermaster) Date & Time: Sunday, November 30th - 4:00 PM Location: Orpheum - Saugerties, NY 12477 Price: $7.00 - $11.00 Saugerties, NY - Cantankerous, charismatic and passionately committed, this river keeper — John Lipscomb — reflects on his 25 years patrolling the Hudson, traveling more than 80,000 miles, by wooden boat, helping defend America’s First River while also highlighting the ongoing challenges and reasons for hope for the future of the Hudson. The Keeper premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival in October 2025. (dir.Jon Bowermaster, USA, 2025, 80 mins.) A brief introduction before the screening by Hudson River Maritime Museum Executive Director Lisa Cline will address the past, present and future economic, cultural and ecological roles of the Hudson River and the importance of caring for and protecting this invaluable resource. Jon Bowermaster is an oceans expert, journalist, writer, filmmaker, adventurer and six-time grantee of the National Geographic Expeditions Council. One of the Society’s ‘Ocean Heroes,’ his first assignment for National Geographic Magazine was documenting a 3,741 mile crossing of Antarctica by dogsled. He is the founder of Oceans 8 Films and the One Ocean Media Foundation, making films about climate at home in the Hudson Valley and around the world. His podcast, “The Green Radio Hour with Jon Bowermaster” on Radio Kingston has recorded over 150 episodes with environmental activists, community leaders and friends from his vast rolodex of travels. Lisa Cline is the Hudson River Maritime Museum's Executive Director. Growing up on the Esopus Creek in Saugerties, she learned about boats and Hudson River history from both sides of her family. Her father was an avid sailor and maritime history buff, and her mother was the daughter of a prominent brickyard owner in Newburgh. Both her parents served on HRMM’s Board in the early years and introduced her to the Museum’s mission. Over the years, Ms. Cline has continued to support HRMM as a volunteer, the Museum’s Chief Operating Officer and most recently as Executive Director for the past decade. More information and tickets can be found at upstatefilms.org or here. This film in The CLOSE UP series is generously underwritten by Sara Arno and The Ettinger Foundation. This project is made possible with funds from the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson. ### About Upstate Films: Upstate Films, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, began screening world-class films in its Rhinebeck theater on a daily basis in May 1972. Over the course of its first 53 years, Upstate Films has screened 7,000+ different titles to an estimated 2.6 million viewers—an unrivaled accomplishment for a rural arthouse cinema—and collaborated with educational institutions and not-for-profit organizations, hosted presentations by filmmakers, writers and artists and produced and hosted festivals. Learn more at upstatefilms.org. About HRMM: Located along the historic Rondout Creek waterfront in downtown Kingston, NY, the Hudson River Maritime Museum is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries, and related industries. Learn more at hrmm.org. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dan Nelson / HRMM Wooden Boat School Manager / [email protected] Kingston, N.Y. - The Wooden Boat School at the Hudson River Maritime Museum is excited to offer an array of woodworking and hand crafts classes this November. Come join us to begin your adventure in woodworking and crafting or enhance your current skills. The November 2025 class schedule includes: Build a Shaker-Style End Table - 11/2 Make A Live Edge Table - 11/15 Broom Making - 11/16 Tool Sharpening Clinic - 11/18 & 11/19 Wooden Pen Turning - 11/21 & 11/22 Holiday Group/Family Build: Easy Rope Wreath - 11/23 About the HRMM Wooden Boat School: The Wooden Boat School was founded by the Hudson River Maritime Museum in 2015 to preserve the maritime craft traditions of the Hudson Valley and to teach a hands-on interpretation of the living history of the Hudson River. The school offers adult and youth courses in woodworking, boat building and hand crafts while consistently adding new classes to meet the interests of the community. Learn more and see the full November class schedule here. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Emma Cariello / Museum Educator / [email protected] Program Title: Wrecked and Abandoned: Forgotten Vessels of the Rondout Creek and Hudson River Date & Time: Wednesday December 3, 2025 - 7pm Location: Hudson River Maritime Museum - 50 Rondout Landing, Kingston, NY Pricing: $10/non member - $5/ HRMM members Presentation Topic: In the 19th century, Rondout Creek was a center of transportation and industry. The entrance to the over 100-mile-long Delaware and Hudson (D&H) Canal was accessed through Rondout Creek, here in Kingston, allowing barges carrying thousands of tons of Pennsylvania coal, Hudson Valley bricks, and other resources between the two ends of the canal. The Mary Powell, one of the “floating palaces”, as these large passenger steamboats were called, had its home port in Kingston and brought thousands of passengers across the Hudson River to New York City and back every year. Hundreds of sloops and schooners sailed the Hudson River, many travelling back and forth in Rondout Creek.Over the years, many boats and barges have been neglected, left to rot on the creek. Accidents were unfortunately inevitable, and the Rondout Creek and Hudson River is home to a plethora of forgotten, wrecked and abandoned vessels. Join museum educator Emma Cariello as she discusses these vessels. The Follow the River Lecture Series is sponsored by Rondout Savings Bank. Bio of Speaker: Emma is an educator at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. She holds a journalism degree from SUNY New Paltz. She has previously worked as a historic interpreter at the Senate House State Historic Site and as a tour guide at the Reher Center. Find more information and registration details at hrmm.org or here. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Emma Cariello / Museum Educator / [email protected] Program Title: A Field of My Own: A Memoir of Place with Cynthia McVay Date & Time: Monday, November 10, 2025 - 7pm Location: Hudson River Maritime Museum - 50 Rondout Landing, Kingston, NY Pricing: $10/non member - $5/ HRMM members Presentation Topic: Pull on your boots and take a walk with Cynthia McVay and her dogs in a riveting landscape rife with adventure and discovery. In A Field of My Own: A Memoir of Place, lifelong creative and environmentalist McVay chronicles her intimate, two-decade relationship with a flagging orchard in the Hudson Valley. As a single working mother, she was looking for a weekend escape from New York City, a piece of green, a place to call her own. One blustery winter day, she falls in love with a meadow and her life is forever altered. She renovates the modest cottage, builds a pondish-pool, creates pollinating, native gardens from orphans and strays, learns to forage and runs the tractor. A decade in, as architect and general contractor, she moves an enormous 180-year-old hand-hewn Amish barn to the property to make her sustainable home.This engaging memoir of place is generous and honest, packed with useful know-how and humor. This is an ode to the Hudson Valley and something of a coming-of-middle-age story. Books will be available for purchase at the event. Bio of Speaker: After 25 years as a strategy and management consultant, Cynthia McVay returned to writing and art full-time. Her award-winning essays, stories and poems have appeared in literary journals. She served as Latin American Program Officer for the World Wildlife Fund and inaugural Director of Innovation for the Peace Corps. She holds a BA from Harvard in biology and studio arts, and an MA in international studies from the University of Pennsylvania and MBA from Wharton, as a Fellow of The Lauder Institute. Cynthia serves on numerous boards including the Rauch Foundation, Center for Large Landscape Conservation, Harvard Club of the Hudson Valley and John Burroughs Association. She splits her time between the Hudson Valley and St. Croix, USVI. She is a member of the Rondout Rowing Club and an obsessed rower; in the summer, you will likely see her on the docks in the morning. The Follow the River lecture series is sponsored by Rondout Savings Bank. Find more information and registration details at hrmm.org or here. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Emma Cariello / Museum Educator / [email protected] Program Title: Museum Mates - Maritime Inspired Story Hour for Kids Date & Time: 3rd Thursday of Every Month - 11AM Location: Hudson River Maritime Museum - 50 Rondout Landing, Kingston, NY Pricing: Free Program Description: The Hudson River Maritime Museum is proud to offer a new maritime inspired story hour for young children. Come join us for Museum Mates, an enriching and entertaining time for kids and parents alike. Take this unique opportunity to play in a museum setting, surrounded by local historic objects and educational resources and get your children excited about museums and learning! When you’re done, enjoy complementary museum admission included with your free ticket. Stay as long as you like and soak in the history. This program is recommended for children age six and under and adults of all ages! Find more information about the program and registration details at hrmm.org or here.   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dan Nelson / HRMM Wooden Boat School Manager / [email protected] Program Title: Youth After-School Woodworking: Introduction to Carpentry Date & Time: Thursdays and Fridays - Nov. 6-7, 13-14, 20-21; Dec. 4-5, 11-12, 18-19 Location: Hudson River Maritime Museum Wooden Boat School - Kingston, NY Pricing: General Public: $525 / Household Member & Above: $475 Program Description: This hands-on after-school class teaches youths age 14 to 18 the fundamentals of building with wood, Thursdays and Fridays, 4:15-5:45 PM, for six weeks. The first two weeks cover safety, power tool and hand tool use, and students will get their hands dirty practicing with a wide variety of tools to measure, cut, and shape wood. During the remaining four weeks, students will work as a team to design and build a little library for placement in the community by a local library. This project, which builds skills in project planning, layout and design, measurement, fabrication, and assembly, is the perfect vehicle for STEAM-based learning. As a miniature version of a building, it's also a great starting point in applied learning for both college degree track students and vocational students, whether they'll go on to study architecture or engineering, or to start a career as a general contractor or furniture maker. Instructor: Max Smith is a multidisciplinary craftsman with ten years of experience in woodworking in various forms, stringed instrument repair and making, piano tuning and repair, boatbuilding, cabinetmaking, and as Maintenance Coordinator for the Beacon Sloop Club. He is a full time instructor at HRMM and has participated as a skills demonstrator at the Eric Sloane Museum in Kent, CT. Find more information about the program and registration details at hrmm.org or here.  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Emma Cariello / Museum Educator / [email protected] Event: An Apple a Day: The Apples of the Hudson Valley Lecture with Kevin Clark Date & Time: Wednesday October 29, 2025 - 6:30 PM Location: Hudson River Maritime Museum Homeport Barn - Kingston, NY Pricing: $10.00 per Person / $5.00 HRMM Members Presentation Topic: Join Kevin Clark from Rose Hill Farm as he discusses the importance and uniqueness of the apple, the genetic diversity which apples hold, as well as the importance of preserving that diversity. You will learn how apples have traveled around the world and the importance of apples in the Hudson Valley. Each variety of apple has a story, rich in humanity and culture. A collection of over 200 types of apples will also be on display during the lecture. The Presenter: Kevin is the lead orchardist of Rose Hill Farm, located in Red Hook NY. He is fascinated with whole fruit tree physiology and being immersed in the life of the orchard throughout all seasons. As an orchardist, he interacts with the land and trees in such a way that enriches the biodiversity of the land, as well as nourishes the humans that visit or work with it. The Follow the River Lecture Series is Sponsored by Rondout Savings Bank. More information and registration can be found here or at hrmm.org.  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Abby Drayer - Solaris Program Manager - [email protected] Event: Family Friendly Halloween Classics: Spooky Tales Aboard Solaris Date & Time: 5:00PM & 6:00PM - Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays in October Location: Hudson River Maritime Museum - Kingston, NY Pricing: Adults - $28 / Seniors (62+ yrs) - $25 / Children (3-12 yrs) - $22 / 2 & Under Free Come one, come all and climb aboard the Hudson River Maritime Museum’s solar powered boat Solaris for a ride of historical scares, appropriate for all ages. Settle in and prepare to be spooked as our storytellers captivate you with specially selected tales for the Halloween season. You’ll hear about a headless horseman, ghosts stalking the river, and more. These stories have floated along the Hudson River and beyond for generations, and they’re sure to delight. Cozy up with some hot cider and treats and enjoy the smooth, quiet ride only Solaris can offer as you learn the haunted tales of the mighty Hudson. Cruises start October 3rd and then run twice a day (5:00PM & 6:00PM) Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays thru October! Find the full Solaris cruise schedule here! Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief Bicentennial Voyage Visits Kingston, Hudson River Maritime Museum9/24/2025  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sara Russell/Museum Educator/[email protected]/845-338-0071 x11 Event: Buffalo Maritime Center’s Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief Bicentennial Voyage Visits Kingston, Hudson River Maritime Museum Date & Time: October 21st, 2025 - October 22nd, 2025 Location: Hudson River Maritime Museum - Kingston, NY Pricing: No charge. Registration Required To mark the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal’s opening, the Buffalo Maritime Center (BMC) has built a full-scale replica of the Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief – the vessel that first journeyed from Buffalo to New York City to mark the canal’s completion. Constructed by nearly 200 volunteers and students between October 2020 and its launch in June 2024, the wooden boat was handcrafted in full public view inside the Longshed at Canalside on Buffalo’s waterfront. This extraordinary community boatbuilding effort stands as the largest project of its kind, making the Seneca Chief not only a historic replica but a powerful symbol of craftsmanship, collaboration, and Buffalo’s enduring maritime legacy. On Wednesday, September 24, 2025, the Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief will embark on the Bicentennial Voyage – a 33-day journey commemorating Governor DeWitt Clinton’s historic trip in 1825. Traveling 500 miles along the Erie Canal and Hudson River, the Seneca Chief will visit 28 communities across New York State, concluding with a grand arrival at Pier 26 in New York City – exactly 200 years after the original voyage began. The Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief arrives at the Hudson River Maritime Museum on Tuesday, October 21st with tours and events on Tuesday, October 21st and Wednesday, October 22nd. While in Kingston, Buffalo Maritime Center will offer free, family-friendly experiences – including special events, educational programs, and hands-on activities – that invite people of all ages to engage with the legacy of the Erie Canal, sparking both local and statewide reflection on the canal’s enduring impact. Find where Seneca Chief and the Tug CL Churchill are right now by checking the vessel tracker here. Additional support for the Seneca Chief HRMM visit is brought to you by American Cruise Lines. Register to visit and find more information here. |
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