Walkway Over the Hudson

 7 Years

 Fred Schaeffer, a lawyer who doubles as a cycling, history and photography enthusiast, has been the lead figure in pioneering and promoting the renovation of the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge. After the bridge evolved into Walkway Over the Hudson, Fred has continued to bolster support and excitement about the bridge by expanding the Walkway’s appeal with events, by acting as a consultant concerning economic development around the bridge, and by lobbying for Dutchess County to connect the Walkway to the Dutchess Rail Trail.

 Fred strove to maximize the connections between and within communities; to highlight the Hudson Valley to the world; to expose the beauty of the Hudson River; and to bring fitness and economic development to the Poughkeepsie-Highland area. To spearhead these goals, Fred undertook a massive grassroots campaign. During many evenings and weekends, he convinced hundreds of politicians, business people, environmental advocates and everyone else to share his vision for developing the bridge. He brought groups up to the bridge to have the view help influence onlookers to become supporters, and he spoke to numerous organizations such as Rotary and Lion’s clubs, and historical societies to secure their support for the Walkway as well. During the Walkway’s 18-month construction period, Fred represented the Board of Directors for Walkway Over the Hudson adroitly through extensive fundraising and media campaigns that seduced the world. Having dedicated 7 years of his life (and counting) all as an unpaid volunteer to this monumental project, Fred put considerable amounts of time and effort into Walkway Over the Hudson without which the Walkway would certainly not exist today.

 Since its opening in October 2009, Walkway Over the Hudson has enjoyed over 500,000 visitors, far surpassing original projections for the bridge. All of Fred’s goals as mentioned above have come to fruition, and, as such, he has greatly brightened the future of Dutchess County and its major city, Poughkeepsie.

 In addition to Fred’s impressive virtuous character, the numerous awards that he and Walkway Over the Hudson as an organization have received show that United Way ought to recognize Fred’s efforts. For his devotion to and success with Walkway Over the Hudson, Fred has been honored by the online environmental magazine Daily Green as its “Local Hero”; the Poughkeepsie Journal named him Business Person of the Year in 2010; and Parks and Trails of New York honored him with its “Outside the Box” award. Even more, the universally well-received product of his endeavors, Walkway Over the Hudson, the product of Fred’s efforts, has received the following prestigious awards. • Preservation League of New York - Historic Preservation Project Award • International Bridge Conference - Historic Structure Preservation Award • Parks & Trails New York - Outside the Box Award • Society for Industrial Archeology - 2009 Project of the Year Roebling Award • Association of General Contractors - NYS Excellence in Partnering Award • American Council of Engineering Companies of NY - NYS Engineering Excellence Gold Award • American Society of Civil Engineers - National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark designation • National Recreation Trail designation - 2009 • Empire State Tourism Excellence Award for Tourism Development - 2010 • Environmental Protection Agency - 2010 Environmental Quality Award From all these honors, Fred Schaeffer is clearly a beacon of progress who should be further recognized for his efforts that have culminated with the late Walkway Over the Hudson.

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