Mayor Zegarelli described his mission as turning residents faces back to the river. "We have had our backs to the river for a long time," he said. "We need a 180 degree turn. The river is our future." He gave examples from the Village of Sleepy Hollow. "We have been having free 'Concerts at Kingsland' in July and August which have been popular with residents, but also attracted visitors from Chappaqua, New Rochelle and Yonkers -- people are returning to the river.

"Now that the General Motors factory has been demolished, we can see the lighthouse," Mayor Zegarelli continued. "We have renamed it 'The 1883 Lighthouse of Sleepy Hollow,' and recently we had a party with fireworks to celebrate its 120th birthday." Then he confided, "I had never been there -- and now I have the keys."

Mayor Zegarelli, who is also President and CEO of Barretta Research with headquarters in Mineola, considered each of the 13 communities in the HRTW consortium have their own attractions that they must protect and showcase. Again he illustrated with a local plan, "Historic Hudson Valley and the villages of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown have sat down together to discuss increasing promotion of the Halloween period. We will sit down again and try to stretch it into a season."

Aware that HRTW will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year, Mayor Zegarelli said nothing is cast in stone regarding possible festivities. He suggested each municipality might plan its own celebration -- and wind up with a gala at Kingsland Point or Croton Point Park. He said he would discuss it with the HRTW Executive Committee in the near future.

Obviously a busy man, Mayor Zegarelli admitted to putting in 40 to 60 hours a week in his elected office in addition to his business, but he does find time to enjoy the sunrise and sunset views from the corner near Hudson Cafe (formerly Goldies) in Sleepy Hollow.

At the December meeting of HRTW when Mayor Zegarelli's appointment was confirmed, Project Director Nancy Gold summarized the events of the year. She said there had been three calendar brochures and one restaurant guide published, but lack of funds had prevented redesigning the color brochure. There had been a "nice response," to the annual conference, "which was a very important initiative." Mr. Chervokas commented, "It came as a surprise to many that Historic Preservation attracts money."

The Flower Village competition was one of the most successful, thanks to the generosity of Martin Ginsburg, Ms. Gold reported.

A review of the budget revealed that HRTW is expecting a matching grant of $40,000 from Westchester County, and it was anticipated there would be $13,000 in the bank at the end of the year. Ms. Gold has received expenses but no salary for the last few months. Mr. Chervokas said that a request for a similar matching grant had been submitted to the county for 2004 but did not know if it had been included in the county's budget. Margo Jones of Westchester County Tourism anticipated it would be less than $40,000 this year.

Mr. Chervokas observed that if HRTW had the not-for-profit status that has been worked on by a lawyer pro bono, it would have been possible to aggressively pursue contributions.

Ms. Gold noted there had not been a fund-raiser during the year -- as there had not been sufficient funds to organize a fund-raiser. There was some discussion about a fund-raiser for the 10th anniversary celebration with a lot of agreement about "getting people out on the river."

There was a report that Scenic Byways is showing some interest in Route 9 and that the Hudson Valley Greenway is also interested. If approved, it could be included in state and/or national promotion and provide possible funding -- but would need grass roots action. A motion by Croton's Mayor Robert Elliott, who pointed out there is a lot of material available from former planning efforts in the 80s and 90s, to apply for any and all status, was passed unanimously.

A discussion on whether to switch the current HRTW web site remained unresolved.

After Mayor Zegarelli's appointment to be Chair of HRTW was passed unanimously, Mayor Elliott suggested forming a HRTW Executive Committee composed of Barney Molloy of Peekskill, Dwight Douglas of Sleepy Hollow and Meg Walker of Hastings-on-Hudson to assist Mayor Zegarelli. That was also passed unanimously.

Irvington official Don Marra and Mayor Elliott both thanked Supervisor Chervokas for his service and contributions to HRTW over the last four years.