by Margie O’Hara
Aerial photo of Inlet’s One Square Mile of Hope on Fourth Lake. By Nancie Battaglia © 2011
When the Inlet One Square Mile of Hope Committee succeeded in breaking the Guinness Record for the World’s Largest Floating Raft, members of the Committee were jubilant. The year of organizational work was deemed to be worthwhile. However, since that time, the entire Committee has been astonished by the far-reaching impact of their accomplishment.
Among the most recent occurrences are a congratulatory letter from Governor Cuomo and the appearance of Nancie Battaglia’s photo of the event in National Geographic. In a letter to Connie Perry, event co-chair, from the Executive Chamber dated March 15th of this year, Governor Andrew Cuomo commented:
“I am delighted to congratulate you and the One Square Mile of Hope Committee on earning the Guinness World Records designation for the ‘World’s Largest Floating Raft.’”He continued, “This extraordinary, well-deserved honor is a tribute to the hard work and humanitarian mission behind the One Square Mile of Hope’s record breaking 2011 event.
“Raising critical funds and awareness for breast cancer education, research, and treatment, the event provided an inspirational example to communities across the state of the power of cooperation and shared commitment.
“On behalf of all New Yorkers, thank you for your positive leadership.” As indicated, the Governor’s thoughtful letter is just one of the continuing nods of approval the One Square Mile of Hope event has received.
Thanks in a major part to Nancie Battaglia’s stunning photos, the fame of OSM-11 continues to spread and appear in publications world-wide.
The most recent photo appears in the April issue of National Geographic. Pages 14 to 15 of the magazine, which is now on newsstands, is the same photo which appeared in the September 29, 2011 issue of Sports Illustrated.
In late December a different photo of the event appeared in Canoe & Kayak’s 2012 Buyers Guide. It was a two-page spread.
The November 2011 issue of German magazine Kanu continued the two-page model.
This was yet another of Battaglia’s photos.
The Swedish magazine Paddling will be running the same photo that appeared in Sports Illustrated in the near future.
There are also a couple of “wider” photos showing the whole raft surrounded by water that have been published as well, mostly in newspapers, locally, nationally, and internationally.
What a great tribute to the efforts of a small group of Inlet residents and a very talented Adirondack photographer.
