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Music Festival In Croton Honors Legacy Of Pete and Toshi Seeger

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. -- Pete and Toshi Seeger may be gone but their legacy continues to live on at Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival, which continues Sunday at Croton Point Park.

The Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, a group formed by Pete Seeger.

The Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, a group formed by Pete Seeger.

Photo Credit: Sam Barron
Carol Mash and Ellen Mitchell said they felt Seeger's spirit at the Clearwater festival.

Carol Mash and Ellen Mitchell said they felt Seeger's spirit at the Clearwater festival.

Photo Credit: Sam Barron
Namaya and Zoe Kopp of Art Rat 4 Peace.

Namaya and Zoe Kopp of Art Rat 4 Peace.

Photo Credit: Sam Barron
Athena and her baby, Clearwater.

Athena and her baby, Clearwater.

Photo Credit: Sam Barron
Sage Cone with Clearwater.

Sage Cone with Clearwater.

Photo Credit: Sam Barron
Keith Leaf and Paul Richard juggling at Clearwater.

Keith Leaf and Paul Richard juggling at Clearwater.

Photo Credit: Sam Barron
Pete Seeger's legacy lives on at Clearwater.

Pete Seeger's legacy lives on at Clearwater.

Photo Credit: Sam Barron
Toshi Seeger was also remembered at the festival she helped create.

Toshi Seeger was also remembered at the festival she helped create.

Photo Credit: Sam Barron
Watermelons with Toshi and Pete Seeger's face carved into them.

Watermelons with Toshi and Pete Seeger's face carved into them.

Photo Credit: Sam Barron

The two-day festival, started by Toshi Seeger, is the first one to be held since both died in the past year. It helps raise money for Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an environmental organization that runs the sloop Clearwater.

"It's sad," festival organizer Steve Lurie said. "But this is a celebration of their legacy."

Lurie said everyone was in great spirits getting ready to show how the Seegers changed the world.

"You can see the work that Pete and Toshi did," Lurie said. "It's going to be a fun weekend."

Lurie said there would be tributes to them, including a square dance, in honor of how the Seegers met. 

Carol Mash and Ellen Mitchell were representing the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, a group founded by Pete Seeger.

"We support keeping the water clean and we do it through song," Mitchell said. "We embody Pete Seeger's spirit through our ongoing activism."

Mash said she would miss seeing Seeger walk around and greet people at the festival.

"He was very unassuming," Mash said. "We're all going to miss him. He was an inspiration."

Mitchell said the day was beautiful in honor of Seeger.

Namaya was on hand as part of his Art Rat 4 Peace exhibit, which advocated peace while showing the cost of militarism.

"Pete was so impassioned," Namaya said. "What a great patriot. He spoke for the environment and for social justice. He had a great force of nature. His spirit and love is still here."

Nancy Burton had goat Athena and Athena's five-day-old baby Clearwater as part of her Mother's Milk Project, which aims to measure radioactivity in human breast milk within a 50 mile radius of Indian Point.

"Not having the Seegers here is crushing and devastating," Burton said. "Pete was an advocate for goat milk. He was a real fan of what we were doing. If not for Pete Seeger, I don't know if I'd be out here."

Sage Cone said coming to Clearwater was an annual tradition.

"It's very sad but the Seegers legacy lives on," Cone said. 

For more information, visit the festival's website.

 

 

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