Current Events
If it weren’t for McGregory Brook, Jan Peek might have continued sailing up the Hudson River in 1650 instead of stopping to trade with the natives and ultimately founding the area that is now Peekskill. Peek was not alone in his discovery of this vital inlet that provided access for shipping and trade. The modest waterway has figured prominently in American History from the Revolutionary War to the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution.
 On Dec. 2, 2010, a new chapter in its history began when Hudson Valley Hospital Center unveiled a new Nature Trail, the final stage of a four-year restoration of wetlands along a section of McGregory Brook. The trail, which was in part made possible by a donation from the Rotary Club of Peekskill, includes a 550 foot boardwalk, wood chip trail, benches and native plantings. In addition to a clean up which restored the health of the wetlands, the trail will provide visitors and patients with a place to reflect and rejuvenate their spirits.
“This Rotary Walk is yet another effort to provide a setting that promotes healing for our patients and their loved ones,” said John C. Federspiel, president of Hudson Valley Hospital Center. “The work has also restored to health a section of McGregory Brook so that native plant and animal species can once again thrive there. We are so thankful today for the generosity of the membership of the Rotary Club of Peekskill for making this possible.”
 Peekskill Rotary’s leadership of this project began under President Marie Green in 2008 when the club committed more than $11,000 to creating the walk. The work was done by The Chazen Companies of Poughkeepsie.
Also speaking at the opening event were Joseph Lippolis, current president of the Rotary Club of Peekskill; Andrew T. Chmar, executive director of the Hudson Highland Land Trust; and Edward Godell, executive director of the New York/New Jersey Trail Conference.
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Opening the Nature Trail are John Federspiel, Andrew Chmar, Edward Godell and Peekskill Rotary President Joe Lippolis
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