If you have stayed with us in the past you will most likely be familiar with Brad Purdy, our executive chef here at the Inn at Sunrise Point. Chef Brad is known as a true magician in the kitchen as he creates beautiful and absolutely delicious dishes for breakfast every morning. He is also a fabulous baker and makes homemade bread, pastries, cookies, cakes, etc. for our guests. This weekend, however, Chef Brad will be taking his amazing skills to New York State to cook for the Clearwater Festival as he does every June.
Chef Brad Purdy
The Clearwater Festival, or the Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival, is an annual festival put on by Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc in order to preserve and protect the Hudson River as well as the communities in the river valley.
After many years of dumping sewage, industrial waste, and toxic chemicals into the Hudson River the river was declared dead in the mid 1960’s. Pete Seeger, a popular musician and respected activist understood the environmental and social importance of the river. As a result, Seeger decided, “to build a boat to save the river”. Holding small fundraising concerts throughout the Hudson River Valley he raised enough money to build the sloop Clearwater, a true symbol of environmental advocacy in America. The Clearwater has become a floating classroom to teach people about the Hudson River.
Performers at the Clearwater Festival
The small fundraising concerts that Seeger started in the 60’s have continued to grow and now the Clearwater Festival has grown into the country’s largest annual environmental celebration. The music, dance, storytelling, education and activism of the festival attract thousands of people of all ages to the shores of the Hudson River each year.
Chef Brad has been volunteering at the festival for 36 years, serving as the head Chef to feed all of the incredibly talented performers. Several thousand people attend this weekend-long event and there are approximately one thousand people who volunteer to make this event a success.
For more information on the Clearwater Festival visit their website http://www.clearwaterfestival.org