Writing on the river: contest announced

Posted 8/21/12

BARRYVILLE, NY — The Delaware Company, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the history and historic sites of the Upper Delaware, and The River Reporter (TRR) …

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Writing on the river: contest announced

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BARRYVILLE, NY — The Delaware Company, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the history and historic sites of the Upper Delaware, and The River Reporter (TRR) are co-sponsoring a “Tall Ships and Timber Rafting” writing contest, with tickets to the upcoming Tall Ships festival in Philadelphia, PA as the grand prizes (tallshipsphiladelphia.com.) The festival will feature majestic vessels from around the world, including replicas of those from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. In focusing on our area’s history, the contest is a foretaste of TRR’s upcoming spring Upper Delaware Magazine, which will provide a virtual heritage tour of our area.

The topic of the contest is the timber rafting/lumbering heritage of the Upper Delaware, dating from the 1760s, when timber rafts floated downstream, providing lumber used to build the original tall ships in Philadelphia and help craft the vessels of the U.S. Navy.

Submissions can be either historical fiction or a well-researched non-fiction essay, with judging within three age categories: 12 and under (up to 500 words); 13 to 18 (up to 700 words); and 19 through adult (up to 1,200 words). Entries must be received by May 27; send them to copyedi tor@riverreporter.com or mail them to PO Box 150, Narrowsburg, NY 12764. This is not a postmark deadline; entries must be in hand by that date.

The grand prize for each age category is a pair of multi-day passes to the Tall Ships Philadelphia-Camden Festival (June 25 to 28), allowing ticket-holders admission to explore both waterfronts throughout the five-day festival as well as board and tour the ships each day. They can enjoy music, food and art displays as well as cannon demonstrations, an authentic privateer encampment, sword fighting with live steel, knot tying, weapons demonstrations and sail training with real tall-ship rigging to round out the learning opportunities.

Second and third prizes will also be awarded in each age group, and include tickets to The Delaware Company’s annual historical/architectural bus trip of Sullivan County, which coincides with the New York State Path through History Weekend on June 20-21; Forestburgh Playhouse tickets, and tour tickets to Grey Towers National Historic Site in Milford, PA, generously donated by the Forestburgh Playhouse and Grey Towers Heritage Association respectively. Keep your eyes open for more announcements on prizes.

Entries will be judged by members of The Delaware Company, including executive director Debra Conway and board president and Sullivan County Historian John Conway, newspaper staff and current and retired educators.

Judging will be blind; that is, the judges will not know the identity of the writers when they are judging the pieces. Winners will be announced in the June 4 issue of TRR. The best adult entry will be published in the fall issue of TRR’s Upper Delaware Magazine, and the best entries in the other two categories will be printed on an ad-hoc basis in the regular paper.

So visit your local historical societies, museums and libraries. Research Lord High Admiral of the Delaware; “Holt! T’other Way!”; the legend of Mast Hope; Martin Hermann; Tom Quick; and the long-gone world of steersmen, bosons, fiddlers and “colts” that created our area’s first industry.

RULES:

Tall Ships and Timber Rafting Writing Contest

The topic of the contest is the timber rafting/lumbering heritage of the Upper Delaware, dating from the 1760s, when timber rafts floated downstream to provide lumber for the needs of the growing nation — including many of the masts used to build the tall ships to be celebrated at Philadelphia's upcoming Tall Ships Festival, June 25-28.

1. Entries will be accepted in three categories: 12 and under, 13 to 18, and over 18.

2. Both historical fiction and well-researched non-fiction will be accepted.

3. Word limits are 500 (12 and under), 700 (13 to 18) and 1200 (over 18).

4. Judging will be done by Delaware Company members, River Reporter newspaper staff, and current and retired educators. Judging will be blind; that is, names of authors will be stripped from the entries before judging.

5. Awards will be based on historical accuracy and interest as well as literary merit.

6. Entries should be emailed to copyeditor@riverreporter.com by Wednesday, May 27.

7. Winners will be announced in the June 4 edition of The River Reporter.

8. Grand prize in each category will be two tickets to the Tall Ships Festival in Philadelphia (tallshipsphiladelphia.com), which takes place on June 25 through 28. Other prizes are in the process of being finalized, but will include two tickets to the Delaware Company's annual historical/architectural tour, corresponding with New York State Path through History Weekend on June 20-21; tickets that can be used at any Forestburgh Playhouse main stage production; tickets to Forestburgh Playhouse's "Shrek"; and tour tickets to Grey Towers National Historic Site. The Delaware Company and River Reporter extend thanks to Forestburgh Playhouse and the Grey Towers Heritage Association for donating prizes for the contest.

Come back to this page for updates on prizes.

9. The winning entry in the 18 and over category will be printed in the fall edition of The River Reporter's Upper Delaware Magazine. Winners in the other categories will be printed on an ad hoc basis in the regular paper.

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