A Father's Day Made at Clearwater Festival

The “theme” of this year’s Great Hudson River Revival Clearwater Festival at Croton Point Park is “generations.” This extends to the performers, with Arlo Guthrie and Sarah Lee Guthrie performing, as well as Pete Seeger and Tao Seeger, to name a couple, to the volunteers and staff working the festival.

The Armours, a family of four that owns Four Winds organic farm near New Paltz, has been coming to  the festival for decades, and in many different incarnations. “I’ve been coming here since before I was a father,” said Jay Armour, noting he even met his wife here 24 years ago during one of Clearwater’s annual meetings.

“I haven’t missed a festival ever,” said Sara Armour, 19, an ecology student and farming teaching at her parent’s farm. “I think the people are great, the food is great, and I get to live on the river for two weeks.”

The two teenagers, Sara and Josh, 14, have just recently started volunteering with the cite crew, which over the course of two weeks helps unpack the stages, sets them up, tears them down and repacks the festival into tractor trailers. The organic farmer’s children, however, “are just really involved in Clearwater and the environmental issues. And they’re concerned and willing to do something about it,” said dad Jay Armour.

Perhaps the real power of the Clearwater Festival for the whole family, however, is the chance to come together and sing. “My kids love singing,” said Jay, mentioning they will sing at the Power of Song Youth Group this weekend, “I think that’s Pete Seeger’s legacy.”

Click here to follow Daily Voice Cortlandt and receive free news updates.