Lake DeForest Day Set for June 27

PRESS RELEASE

The Supervisor’s Challenge and five hours of guided paddling will highlight the inaugural Lake DeForest Day to be hosted by United Water New York on Saturday, June 27 at the Lake DeForest Reservoir. More than 400 rowers, kayakers and canoers are expected to participate.

“This is a landmark event for our company and another exciting way to give our customers access to the beautiful Lake DeForest,” said Chris Graziano, the GM of United Water New York. “Lake DeForest Day represents a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the environment, participate in a worthwhile fundraiser and support a new event that will add to the quality of life in Rockland County.”

The event will feature the Supervisor’s Challenge, a race scheduled for 10 a.m. matching the five town supervisors in a 100-meter tandem kayak competition. The winner will be presented the Supervisor’s Cup by County Executive Ed Day during the opening ceremonies at 11 a.m.

Guided paddling will begin at 11:30 a.m. and boaters can choose to rent single kayaks, double kayaks or canoes at $20 per paddler. Registration is pre-event only by visiting www.HackensackRiverkeeper.org. There is only a limited number of boat rentals so they will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.

All proceeds of the event will go to support the ongoing work of Hackensack Riverkeeper and its mission to protect, preserve and restore the Hackensack River. As one of the leading environmental groups in the northeast, Hackensack Riverkeeper is widely renowned for its advocacy, education and conservation programs that benefit the 45-mile long river, its watershed, people and wildlife.

Lake DeForest Day completes a “Triple Crown” of 2015 paddling events on the reservoirs of the Hackensack River Watershed. Through its partnership with United Water, Riverkeeper features paddling days on the Oradell Reservoir, Lake Tappan and now Lake DeForest.

“We are very excited to extend our work to the headwaters of the watershed and we expect this event to be immensely popular in Rockland,” said Captain Bill Sheehan, founder and Executive Director of Hackensack Riverkeeper. “Each of these special events offers an opportunity for local residents to paddle these pristine bodies of water that are ordinarily closed to the public.”

Orange and Rockland Utilities is the event sponsor.