For Immediate Release: 05/26/2015
Contact:
Shane Mahar | shane.mahar@thruway.ny.gov |
Office of Media Relations and Communications | (518) 471-5300
MEDIA AVAILABILITY: HISTORICAL TUGBOAT URGER TO HOST EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS AT LOCK E-7 IN NISKAYUNA
Wednesday, May 27
10:00 a.m.
Lock E-7
1390 Lock 7 Road
Niskayuna, NY 12309
Crew of the Tug URGER
Fourth grade students from Hamilton Elementary School in Schenectady
For the past 24 years, the 114-year old Tug URGER has served as a focal point of a program to educate fourth graders across the state about the importance of New York’s historic Canal system and the role that the canal has played in the economic and social development of New York State.
Originally put into service as a fishing boat in 1901, she earned the name ‘URGER’ for her 64 years of urging scows and barges along the Canal from 1922 through 1986. In 1991, the URGER began a new chapter in her storied life as a floating museum and classroom.
More than 100,000 school children have gone aboard the URGER and have disembarked with a renewed sense of the Erie Canal’s incredible legacy.
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The New York State Canal System is comprised of four historic waterways, the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Spanning 524 miles, the waterways link the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes, Niagara River and Lake Erie with communities rich in history and culture. For more information about the New York State Canal System, vacation opportunities and events call 1-800-4CANAL4 or visit www.canals.ny.gov.
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