MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 8, 2003

Contact: Kelly Rivera
Coordinator Huntington Tall Ships® Toledo
Phone: (419) 243-8251

ORGANIZERS ANNOUNCE FESTIVAL PLANS FOR
HUNTINGTON TALL SHIPS® TOLEDO

TOLEDO, OH - The International Park Board of Greater Toledo, Inc. held a press conference to announce details for the Huntington Tall Ships® Toledo festival this July. Huntington Bank was announced as title sponsor and acknowledged for their significant contributions to the community project.

“The International Park Board pursued this project tirelessly and we anticipate a spectacular show this July. The Board appreciates the generous support from Huntington National Bank,” announced Walt Edelen, president of International Park of Greater Toledo, Inc.

In July, 2003, Ohio will celebrate 200 years and its historic maritime heritage with the largest gathering of Tall Ships® on Lake Erie since the 1800s. As a Signature Event of the Ohio Bicentennial Celebration, Huntington Tall Ships® Toledo will showcase 20 ships in the Parade of Sails on July 16th with dockside tours and day sails available on 17 ships July 17-20 in International Park. The Associated Yacht Clubs’ Salute to the Fleet water parade is scheduled for Saturday, July 19.

The HMS Bounty, INS Tarangini, Highlander Sea, True North, Larinda and the State Flagship, Red Witch, are among the fleet of U.S., Canadian and international sailing vessels scheduled for arrival. A highlight of the event will be the Pride of Baltimore II, a topsail schooner stretching 108 feet in length. Owned by the State of Maryland, the Pride II sails year round, touring nationally and internationally and has appeared in the American Sail Training Association’s (ASTA), Tall Ships Challenge® race series in the Great Lakes.

The Parade of Sails on Wednesday, July 16, will arrive in two ‘waves’, with the first appearance of ships scheduled between 1:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. in International Park. The second wave will arrive between 3:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. There will be no public tours on Wednesday, as the ships must complete coast guard and customs inspections.

On Thursday, July 17, the festival site opens at 10:00 a.m. with on-deck tours beginning at 12:00 p.m. through 5:00 p.m. Day Sail opportunities and entertainment are scheduled throughout the day.

From Friday through Sunday, July 18 to July 20, the festival site opens at 10:00 a.m. with on-deck tours throughout the day until 5:00 p.m. Day Sail opportunities and entertainment are scheduled daily.

Attending the conference was Huntington Tall Ships® Toledo Co-chair, Gary Wyse, who is the Vice President and General Manager of the Toledo Sports Arena and a Board Director of International Park of Greater Toledo, Inc. Also attending were International Park Board President, Walter Edelen; Ohio Bicentennial Executive Director, Stephen C. George; Huntington Bank Community President, Barbara Berebitsky and Toledo Mayoral Liaison, Sue Ann Hochberg, who presented Ms. Berebitsky with a city proclamation.

For Immediate Release

The tall ship, U.S. Brig Niagara, will visit Toledo August 30 - September 1, 2002. This reconstruction of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship in the battle of Lake Erie was completed in the summer of 1990, and since then the Niagara has embarked on an ambitious program of sailing and historic interpretation.

The visit of the Niagara is the beginning of a year of activities leading up to an historic gathering of tall ships in Toledo in mid-July of 2003. The visit this summer of the Niagara is being organized by The Board of Advisors of International Park of Toledo and the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. Both Toledo groups will join with the State of Ohio Bicentennial Commission in hosting the visit of more than a dozen tall ships next summer.

Joining in the celebration of the Niagara visit will be the tall ship, Red Witch, from Port Clinton, Ohio, and a unique visit by the Edward M. Cotter, a Buffalo, New York, fireboat. The Cotter was built in 1900 and has a long history of firefighting along Buffalo's waterfront. On July 4, 1996, the fireboat was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Parks Service.

A regatta of sailing vessels from Toledo, Detroit and Lake Erie ports is being planned to lead the historic vessels into downtown Toledo on August 29.

OhioMedia.com, a Toledo-based multimedia company, has donated a web site for communications surrounding the Tall Ships events. The web site is being launched July 18, 2002, and is located on the Internet at www.tallshipstoledo.com. Ticket information, maps to the docking locations and links to the history of the visiting ships are available at the web site.

Based on the experiences of similar events in Detroit, Boston and Baltimore, organizers are expecting more than 10,000 visitors for the event this summer. The gathering of more than a dozen tall ships next July is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors and have several million dollars of economic impact.

"The Park Board of Advisors and the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority are excited to host these important events," explained Kelly Rivera, one of the event coordinators. "In addition to creating a series of historic family events, visitors to these events will have a tremendous economic impact on our city."

Ships visiting in 2003 will range from 45 to 200 feet and will be docked along the Maumee River, north of the S.S. Willis B. Boyer Museum ship. During their visits, the ships will be available for public tours. Local and state organizers are also planning events to include artists, entertainment and displays that highlight Toledo's maritime history.

For more information about the Niagara visit, contact Kelly Rivera at 419-249-6560 ext 114. For web site information, contact OhioMedia.com at 419-242-8402.