Welcome
Posted by justinkase | 07/03/2009 - 09:04 PM
Area History - The Saugerties Area was purchased from the Esopus Indians in 1677, the primary industry at that time was that of Saw Mills. Prior to 1712 the main business interest in the Saugerties Area was due to the close proximity of the Hudson River, making transportation of lumber manufactured in the many mills on the Esopus possible, and in the private ownership of roads, all traffic was controlled and those who passed through had to pay a toll to the road owners.
Clear Water Sloop
Clearwater is an authentic replica of the old Dutch sloops that carried cargo up and down The Hudson River. Launched in 1969, the sloop has an important education role. Every year, more than 12,000 school children and adults sail the Clearwater.
Saugerties History
Saugerties is at the foot of the Catskill Mts on the West bank of the Hudson River, 100 miles North of New York City. The name Saugerties takes its derivation from the Holland Dutch, Zager's Killetje. Zager (meaning sawyer or sawmill)...
Garlic Festival
In 1989, Pat Reppert of Shale Hill Farm and Herb Gardens organized the first Garlic Festival held in the Hudson Valley - and perhaps on the East Coast. It was started as a promotional event for Reppert's fledgling herb business and for New York State grown garlic. With no paid publicity except through her newsletter, 'Notes from Shale Hill Farm,' an article in the local Kingston Freeman newspaper and word of mouth, the attendance at the first festival far exceeded estimations.
In 1990, over 425 ''garlic lovers'' attended the event in Reppert's herb gardens-quadrupling the previous year's attendance and stretching the facilities at the farm to its limits. In 1991, tickets were pre-sold to control the crowds and Reppert had over 1500 phone calls from people who were scrambling to gain admission. At this point, she knew she had something much bigger than she could handle, so she approached the Kiwanis Club of Saugerties about adopting the festival.
In 1992, the Kiwanis Club of Saugerties held their first Garlic Festival at Cantine Field in Saugerties, New York. The pre-festival crowd estimates were 2,500 if the weather held. To everyone's surprise, despite considerable rain, 5,000 people attended and had a great time. Again in 1993 it rained, only in the morning, and attendance more than doubled to an estimated crowd of 13,000. On the last Sunday of September 1994, the weather finally cooperated and attendance took off to over 30,000.
