Tugboat Roundup Ready to Get Underway in Eighth Year

WATERFORD MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Keeping History Afloat
1 Tugboat Alley
Waterford, NY  12188

August 30, 2006
For Immediate Release:

Event will be biggest yet, will feature new vessels and attractions

The annual Tugboat Roundup returns to Waterford again this year September 8th - 10th as this quiet canal community braces for an influx of over 30,000 visitors over three days.  Begun in 1999 by local tugboat captain John Callaghan, the annual event has become the area's largest annual waterfront festival, as well as the largest gathering of antique and active working craft in the northeastern United States.

Sponsored by the Town of Waterford and the Waterford Maritime Historical Society, the Tugboat Roundup will host nearly 30 participating vessels this year, compared to seven vessels at the inaugural event in 1999.  Other major sponsors include the General Electric Company, Albany Port District Commission, Crowder Associates, New York State Canal Corporation, New York State Marine Highway Transportation Company, Port Albany Ventures, and Time Warner Cable.

Town of Waterford Supervisor John E. Lawler said, "Our waterfront, which is so much a part of our past, is alive again today and events like the Tugboat Roundup are a big part of that resurgence.  Waterford is proud to support this great event and I know we will have another extraordinarily successful Tugboat Roundup this year."

Waterford Maritime Historical Society Secretary-Treasurer J. Christopher Callaghan said, "History has many lessons to teach us, perhaps none more poignant than how the Erie Canal gave rise to the Empire State.  This area has perhaps the richest industrial maritime heritage in all of New York State, save New York Harbor.  It's a heritage we should celebrate, and for three exciting days, celebrate we shall."

New York State Canal Corporation Director Carmella Mantello said, "We are pleased to work with the Town of Waterford and the Waterford Maritime Historical Society in making this unique and popular event a huge success. The Tugboat Roundup attracts thousands of visitors to the Canal each year and we look forward to welcoming them, as well as great old boats lining Waterford's shores like the Canal Corporation's flagship, the Tug Urger, and the Grand Erie and Governor Cleveland."

 "The growth has been truly amazing, and to some extent we are having trouble with our own success," said Callaghan, one of the event's long-time organizers and volunteers and master of ceremonies for the annual tug parade.  "As the event gets bigger, it presents more and more logistical and fundraising challenges, but I think we are up to the task."   
Waterford Harbormaster Dick Hurst said that in addition to the myriad of historic vessels lining the wall, there will be plenty to see and do.  "We've got a full lineup for the entire family, from vendors to entertainment to storytelling to boat rides," Hurst said.  "We've added a variety of interactive events just for children at Lock 2 Park, where the teaching tug Urger will be docked," Hurst added.

Hurst also said the waterfront will seem a little more crowded this year, with more boats than ever in attendance.  The crowd pleaser W. O. Decker, a diminutive wooden tugboat from the South Street Seaport Museum makes her return this year, after receiving a complete rebuild at Scarano's boatyard in Albany last year.  The W. O. Decker will be giving tugboat rides throughout the weekend, as well as the M/V Caldwell Belle and the State Council on Waterways tour boat.  The Town of Waterford's Tug Buffalo, which is undergoing major engine rehabilitation, returns as well.  The tugboat C. L. Churchill from the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum returns this year, after having attended last year's festivities with the canal schooner Lois McClure in tow.  Boats making their first trips to the Roundup include the Tug Honey, Tug National, Tug Odin, and Tug Shenandoah.

The event begins on Friday, September 8th with a tugboat parade departing Albany at 2 PM and arriving in Waterford at 6 PM.  On Saturday, the schedule includes a full lineup of events and entertainment, as well as lectures and slideshows.  Saturday evening, there will be a Giffy's chicken barbecue at Lock 2 Park and a fireworks display over the junction of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers.  Sunday the fun continues with activities for the whole family, and the annual nose-to-nose competition where the tugboats show off their stuff (and horsepower).  The event concludes with an awards ceremony at 4 PM.

Satellite parking and shuttle service in the Village of Waterford will be available throughout the weekend.  Alternate vessel docking will be available at Lock E-3.
A complete schedule of events, as well as other pertinent information, is available at http://www.TugboatRoundup.com For more information call Dick Hurst at (518) 233-9123.