RESILIENCE

Gather with Clearwater in celebration of resilience. We celebrate our 56th year of stewarding our historic Hudson River Sloop, building an intergenerational community of river advocates through education, activism, sailing, and music. The last year brought more extreme weather to the Hudson Valley and our planet, and periods of great challenge and change to Clearwater. This year's Spirit of the Hudson Gala will honor Betsy Blair, Venuri Atulugama and Pamela Wolff, who all embody the message of "resilience" in their daily life  through their commitment to environmental preservation and research. * Join us in celebrating their impact and in rising to face the obstacles ahead to build a resilient future for the Hudson River and its communities for decades to come.

HONOREES

Betsy Blair
Spirit of the Hudson Award

The Clearwater Spirit of the Hudson Award is given annually by Hudson River Sloop Clearwater to recognize and honor extraordinary contributions to the protection and celebration of the Hudson River and its watershed by individuals who exemplify the values and spirit of Clearwater's co-founder, Pete Seeger. 

Betsy Blair has been involved with Clearwater since the mid 80's. Originally introduced to the organization by dear friend Cara Lee and long time board member, Steve Stanne. Betsy joined Clearwater as an onboard education volunteer, and was soon briefly hired to assess the NEPA environmental reviews for a proposed naval homeport in Staten Island. Early in her days of founding the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, she worked alongside Steve Stanne to deliver public field programs at Reserve sites. 

Grateful for the time she's been able to spend in field stations on the Hudson River, she now lives in Hurley, NY with her husband. Continually inspired by the Hudson River, her favorite water way, she enjoys making art in hopes to convey her experiences of peace and the river's powerful energy for others visual enjoyment.

We thank Betsy for her life-long contributions to the Hudson River and are honored to offer her the Spirit of the Hudson Award.

Venuri Atulugama 
Next Generation Environmental Leaders Award

The Next Generation Environmental Leaders Award celebrates the efforts of a young person or group of youth (under age 30) who are actively working to protect or steward the ecological world. We recognize the important role the next generation plays in shaping the future of the Hudson River and our planet.

Venuri Atulugama is a first-generation Sri Lankan college student in her Junior year at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry. With many achievements under her belt already, Venuri is publishing her own report later this year titled, "The Effects of Man-Made Barriers on the Abundance and Size Distribution of American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) in the Crum Elbow Creek and Saw Kill," with the help of her advisors, Dr. Karin Limburg, Sarah Mount, and Chris Bowser.

Described by many as an exemplary Hudson River researcher and enthusiast, she has worked for the NYSDEC at Norrie Point Environmental Center since 2021 for The Institute Discovering Environmental Scientists (TIDES) and The Education And Microplastics Science Community 

River Assessment Project (TEAM SCRAP). As well as the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in

2021 for the Mid-Hudson Young Environmental Scientists (MH-YES) Program, and Black Rock Forest in 2022 as a teacher's assistant. Most recently she has completed her summer research project with the Hudson River Foundation's "Tibor T. Polgar Fellowship."

We are excited to see where she goes next! She is truly a Next-Generation Environmental Leader.

Pamela Wolff
Lifetime Contribution to Clearwater Award

The Lifetime Contribution to Clearwater award recognizes the profound impact of Clearwater's founders, volunteers, board, crew, and staff over the organization's lifetime.

Pamela Wolff's first introduction to Pete Seeger was in 1940, at just 5 years old in Monteagle, TN. Her parents took her to a training camp for union organizers, and there she saw some young fellow playing banjo. 

In the time it takes to grow from a 5 year old to a 54 year old, Pamela had moved to New York and gotten involved with local organizations in her Manhattan neighborhood, Chelsea. Her first time stepping on to the Clearwater was in 1989, when her group of crusading park advocates chartered the boat for an afternoon sail along the Hudson. It was there that Captain Betsy Garthwaite put her on the tiller for the majority of the sail. Having steered the sloop for the better part of three hours, she stayed at the tiller until they docked at Pier 62. Soon to become a part of Chelsea Waterside Park. Pamela was hooked, and signed up every summer to volunteer until just recently with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Throughout her time in Chelsea, and one of the longest-serving volunteers for the Clearwater - she advocated for downtown dock access, has welcomed hundreds of friends and neighbors aboard the Clearwater and has also gotten involved in our Youth Empowerment Programs to guide a new generation of environmental leaders. 

Without Pamela's lifetime contributions to this organization, the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater wouldn't be the same.

 Special Guests

"Toss the Feathers"
Band

Toss the Feathers performs a lively mix of traditional Irish music and songs. Playing for pubs, festivals, weddings, and ceilis, and concert venues around the Upper Hudson Valley and Capital Region, living their dream of being a live, local band. Having come together in 2015, they have played together at traditional Irish seisiúns (sessions) and festivals with a changing lineup depending on the schedule. For our Gala we are honored to have current members Amy Schoch and Don Meade, along with former member Liam O'Neill.

Liam O'Neill is originally from County Kerry in Ireland. A long-time Hudson Valley resident, he plays uilleann pipes and whistles. A former member of "Toss the Feathers," he is active in the Irish music session scene and runs a monthly session at "Garvan's" in New Paltz NY.

Amy Schoch sings and plays violin and violotta with Toss the Feathers, which she co-founded in 2015.  She plays in Irish traditional music sessions throughout the Hudson Valley and hosted a long-running Albany session that recently closed after an 11-year run. 

Don Meade plays guitar, tenor banjo, and harmonica with Toss the Feathers. He divides his time between the Hudson Valley and New York City, where he directs the Blarney Star concert series and runs a weekly session at the Landmark Tavern.

Bill Braine
Auctioneer

Bill Braine is a Trustee of the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson and a former Trustee of the Hudson Highlands Nature Center. He also used to host the Hudson Valley's best karaoke night at 2 Alice's Coffee Lounge in Cornwall-on-Hudson. Bill has volunteered with and sailed on Clearwater for well over a decade, performing on-shore maintenance work, crewing for a week on the Mystic Whaler, providing office assistance, and bringing family and colleagues along to help. He staffed the Sloop's table at the Cornwall-on-Hudson Riverfest last June and joined the Business Model Planning task force in 2024. Although Bill worked at Sotheby's for nearly 12 years, he does not want anyone to mistake him for a professional auctioneer.