The "Gondola Blog" gets launched!

Welcome and Benvenuti to the official launch of the "Gondola Blog".
This blog was created to chronicle a rowing expedition by gondola from Albany to Manhattan along the Hudson River in New York. The expedition will take place during the first week of October, 2007, ending with the gondola and her gondoliers participating in the Columbus Day Parade along 5th Avenue. The purpose of the row is to pay tribute to FDNY and the fallen heroes of September 11th.

Here is the press release issued by Gondola Adventures, Inc.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anne Marie Diorio
Office: 949-646-2067 x802
expeditions@gondola.com

International Group of Gondoliers Rowing the Hudson River from Albany to Ground Zero to Pay Tribute to FDNY and the Fallen Heroes of 9-11

Newport Beach, CA August 23, 2007 – Gondola Adventures™, Inc., in conjunction with the Gondola Society of America, the International Columbia Association, FDNY, and Vittorio Orio, a Venetian gondolier who has undertaken many noteworthy rowing expeditions on behalf of charity (the English Channel, the Straits of Messina, and many rivers in Europe), is undertaking a rowing event to pay tribute to FDNY and the fallen heroes of 9-11. The event will take place in late September and early October 2007, culminating in the Columbus Day Parade down 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

A team of three Italians and three Americans has been assembled. The Americans are gondola operators from California (Newport Beach), Minnesota (Minneapolis), and Texas (Irving). In addition, a complement staff will include a gondola operator with operations in New Jersey and Florida and one with an operation in Virginia Beach. The Venice-built gondola is resident to the California operation and will be transported to New York for the event.

The route will begin on the Hudson in Albany, NY and end a week later at Ground Zero. The gondola will stop daily along the way, visiting with volunteer fire departments. Upon passing under the George Washington Bridge on October 6th, the FDNY fireboat will welcome the expedition with a grand water display. The international team has then been invited to participate in the Columbus Day Parade on October 8th, with the gondola in tow as a float / display in the parade.

In attendance will be the President of the Gondola Society of America, Greg Mohr, the foremost gondola authority in the United States.
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