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Cashing in on the Hudson Valley’s rich history subject of day-long summit
by Allan Lester, MidHudsonNews.com
10/5/2005

HYDE PARK -- Some 180 people, many of them municipal officials and civic leaders, attended the event at one of the region’s better-known historic sites, the FDR estate in Hyde Park. Congressman Maurice Hinchey chaired the summit, but had to leave before it ended to return to Washington.

Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Public Forum Institute, which conducted the summit, said they did not come in with a pre-set agenda.

“We do some research but at a relatively shallow level”, he said. It is in large part a ‘discovery’ session for them.

Ortmans said there was “great emphasis on better utilizing existing technology” to make residents and visitors aware of the rich heritage of the area. “Of the 10 ideas that we put out there as a way of formulating these goals, one of the four was ‘how do you tie it all together.’ I think there’s some very simple steps that seem very obvious, like ensuring that everything opens at the same time,” he said.

Other areas of importance among participants included working with the educational institutions, a goal that ranked high with Poughkeepsie Mayor Nancy Cozean. “We need to reconfirm to people why it is important that they are living here, and why it is important that they learn about our importance.”

Cozean said local history should be a mandatory part of the public school curricula.

Hudson Valley Tourism Director Susan Cayea said the session was productive because there is always a benefit when people with a common interest get together to make decisions.

Ortmans said a compilation of findings from the summit will be posted October 11 on their website, www.publicforuminstitute.org.

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