NYC Parks & Recreation Celebrates Raritan Bay at Conference House Park

May 28, 2010 - PRLog -- On Saturday, June 26, from noon to 8 p.m., the first annual Raritan Bay Festival will be held in Conference House Park, in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York. The park is on Raritan Bay, a body of water between Sandy Hook and the New York harbor, and faces Perth Amboy, NJ, across the Arthur Kill. Environmental and park organizations from both states are involved in the celebration.

Bonnie Williams, director of the park, says, “Conference House Park has undergone amazing changes over the past few years, with the extension of the walking trails, the rebuilt Russell Pavilion, and a new Visitors’ Center with exhibits and a gift shop. The Raritan Bay Festival highlights Conference House Park as a premier historical, recreational, and environmental destination. With two and half miles of beaches and forest trails, we’re good for families, hikers, environmentalists, history buffs, bird watchers, dog walkers, and kayakers from both New York and New Jersey. Our history starts with the Lenape Native Americans and runs to present day Tottenville. Come celebrate being on the bay!”

On the schedule so far are free kayaking offered by Kayak Staten Island, a craft & art fair sponsored by Friends of Fire, live music provided by local bands, the Sleeping Beauty puppet show from City Parks Foundation’s Puppet Mobile, oyster farming demonstrations by the NY/NJ Baykeepers, and fishing demonstrations by the Fishermen’s Conservation Association. The Conference House Association will provide docent-led tours of the Conference House museum.

Sponsors are City of New York Parks & Recreation, Kayak Staten Island (http://www.kayakstatenisland.org/), Friends of Fire (http://friendsoffire.org/), and the Conference House Association (http://conferencehouse.org.

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The Conference House is a stone manor house named for the peace conference that took place there in 1776. The historic meeting between the patriots Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge, and the king’s representative Lord Howe, was the only diplomatic attempt to halt the course of the American Revolution. The Conference House is owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, operated by the Conference House Association and is a member of the Historic House Trust of New York City.