FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 2010

County of Union Shares Award for Helping to Preserve the Cranford Canoe Club

CRANFORD, NJ – The 2010 Cranford Historical Society/Cranford Historic Preservation Advisory Board Preservation Award will be presented to the County of Union, the Hanson Park Conservancy and the Township of Cranford for their efforts to restore and preserve the Cranford Canoe Club. The award will be presented at the annual “Pot Luck Dinner” sponsored by the Cranford Historical Society and the Cranford Historic Preservation Advisory Board on Sunday, March 7, at the Hanson House, 38 Springfield Avenue, Cranford, from 4:00-6:00 p.m.

“The Board of Chosen Freeholders is dedicated to preserving and improving the historic, cultural and recreational treasures of Union County,” said Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski, liaison to the Cultural and Heritage Programs Advisory Board. “We are honored to be part of the effort to restore and preserve the Cranford Canoe Club, the last building of its kind along the Rahway River and a unique part of Cranford’s history.”

The Preserve Union County matching-grant program, administered by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, presented Cranford with a $75,000 grant for the restoration of the Cranford Canoe Club in 2005. In addition, the Township received several other Preserve Union County grants in recent years, including $75,000 in 2003 for the Crane-Phillips House; $40,000 in 2007 for the Hanson House; $3,125 in 2007 for the fireplace in Hanson Park; and $20,000 in 2009 for the Hanson House.