For the entire month of May, the foyer of the Rangos Building at St. Vladimir's Seminary is hosting a traveling exhibit, "A Hudson River Journey: 1609-2109." Featuring a series of panels with stunning river photography and original artwork, explanatory text, historic artifacts, maps, and digital media, the exhibit is sponsored by Riverkeeper, a member–supported watchdog organization dedicated to defending the Hudson River and the corresponding tributaries that serve the Hudson Valley's population of nine million people.
Riverkeeper Community Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator Dana Gulley and Riverkeeper Intern Cara Goldfarb arranged for the exhibit, with assistance from SVOTS Chancellor/CEO The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield and third–year seminarian Jesse Brandow, president of the student–run St. Herman's Society for Orthodox Ecology.
"This exhibit has been to a number of schools in the greater NYC area, and we are pleased that we've been able to host it at St. Vladmir's," said Brandow. "Through the exhibit, Riverkeeper has enabled us to educate both visitors and our campus community about our local waterways." Riverkeeper developed the "Hudson River Journey" exhibit in 2009 in honor of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage up the Hudson River. Display panels depict the history of the Hudson from six distinct regions of the river and for three time periods. The advocacy group has been New York's clean water advocate for 44 years, and has helped to establish globally recognized standards for waterway and watershed protection by serving as the model for a growing Waterkeeper movement that includes nearly 200 Keeper programs in the U.S. and abroad.
"We're hoping to work with Riverkeeper more in the future, and are exploring concrete ways of collaborating," noted Brandow. He also explained that in September, the St. Herman's Society will host a lecture with The Rev. Dn. Seraphim Foltz, Ph.D., professor of Philosophy at Eckerd College in Florida. The talk will commemorate the beginning of the ecclesiastical year on September 1st, which His All–Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew has designated as a day of prayer for the protection of the environment.
Read about the Ecology Club's Crestwood Lake clean–up day
