In an effort to bring more people to the water while providing an educational experience, multiple organizations came together Saturday on Buffalo’s waterfront to host the first Waterside Showcase.
The Buffalo Maritime Center, Westside Rowing Club, and the Great Lakes Center collaborated to stage the event.
Chelsea Moore, Education Director at the Buffalo Maritime Center, highlighted its importance.
"In general, collaborative efforts like this are great, so that people can see different aspects and get different perspectives of our waterfront, as opposed to just seeing one side of it. You know, just the research side or just the history side. That's why these organizations working together show history, research, recreation, education, all coming together. And I think that's really wonderful," said Chelsea.
Chelsea added that one of the goals of the Buffalo Maritime Center is to get people out sailing, canoeing, and building boats while learning about how important boat building was in the region hundreds of years ago. She added that they are doing their best to preserve that tradition going into the future.
"I think the waterfront in the next 200 years looks like a lot of young people out here being really comfortable on the water and being stewards of their home waterways."
At this event, the Buffalo Maritime Center was on hand engaging the community in the city's waterfront history and recreation, while the Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief was docked for tours.
The Great Lakes Center provided displays of life in Lake Erie and offered unique programming highlighting their work as a research and education center. And many were introduced to the sport of rowing as West Side Rowing Club invited people to give rowing a try and to take a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fontana Boathouse.
Kirk Lang, President of West Side Rowing Club, says it’s a great time to get more people involved in the sport, which he says is for everyone.
I always tell people, no matter if you're in middle school, college, or pick up the sport later in life, it's definitely a sport for life." Lang added, "I think the biggest takeaway is if you're interested in rowing, now's the time to try it out. It's beautiful weather. It's the summer in Buffalo. The next two or three months are the best time to be on the water. So come down and check us out," said Lang.
The sport of rowing is growing in Western New York. There are over 1,000 members at West Side Rowing Club, and the club offers extensive programming, including scholarships funded by Ralph C. Wilson.
"We have a huge financial aid program, which is great through Ralph C. Wilson (Foundation), our partner, that gets at least over 100 kids scholarships into rowing and over 200 middle school kids a summer," Lang said. "We're really hoping to exceed those numbers again this year"
For more information on West Side Rowing Club, you can click here.
