[Announce] 100-year-old woman pledges $20 million to preserve land on Hudson

[James Travers]

  100-year-old woman pledges $20 million to preserve land on Hudson
  
June 15, 2007, 9:13 AM EDT

SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. -- A 100-year-old woman who still kayaks on the Hudson River pledged $20 million Friday to help save the river's banks from development. 

The gift from Kathryn Wasserman Davis of Tarrytown to Scenic Hudson will allow the conservation group to purchase land along the Hudson that might otherwise be bought up for housing or commercial use. 

Davis, a Ph.D. in political science and the widow of Wall Street financier Shelby Cullom Davis, is an active centenarian, kayaking, playing croquet and painting. She marched in a suffragist parade at age 4 and remembers watching the construction of the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson. 

"Up and down this Hudson Valley and across America, we need to be vigilant for opportunities to protect our natural resources," Davis said in Scenic Hudson's announcement. "It gives me great joy to have my name and the Davis name linked with Scenic Hudson forevermore." 

The money, from Davis and her Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation, will not be transferred to Scenic Hudson until Davis dies, but Scenic Hudson plans to put her pledge to use before then by borrowing against it. 

It will use $15 million of the gift to speed up its land-purchasing program, which has so far totaled 25,000 acres along the Hudson. New parks and preserves will provide views of the river as well as hiking and other recreation, the group said. 

About $4 million will be used for improvements at Kingsland Point Park in Sleepy Hollow, which is owned by Westchester County. A historic bathhouse is to be renovated and a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists is to be built across railroad tracks, easing access to the waterfront. 

The remaining $1 million will help create a new riverfront park in Tarrytown linking with the RiverWalk that is planned along the river for the length of the county. 

Davis's recent philanthropy includes "100 Projects for Peace," which will provide $10,000 to each of 100 undergraduates for ideas that promote peace. She also has funded projects promoting the study of Russian language and culture. 
   
  Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.
   
  http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--centenariansgift0615jun15,0,6600952.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

       
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