Boathouse Row

By the end of the year, Boathouse Row on the Schuylkill should be fully aglow once again, the distinctive shapes of the 14 Victorian-era structures outlined in lights for all to enjoy. Thanks to a $147,500 grant from the city's William Penn Foundation, this delightful display will be restored and made permanent. The lighting exhibit, initially installed to provide temporary gaiety for the 1976 Bicentennial celebration, has fallen into a sad state of disrepair. So many of its lights are missing that it is currently about as picturesque as a snaggle-toothed grin.

They're calling it "Ruby's Walk Across America," but for this morning, let's just call it a stroll along Kelly Drive. That's plenty for now for Ruby Gettinger, star of the Style Network's "Ruby," which is following her every step of a journey that began with her weighing nearly 500 pounds. She's kicking off a multicity set of one-hour walks at 9 this morning at No. 1 Boathouse Row, where she'll be walking and talking with fans of the Comcast-owned cable network's most-watched show in a free event that's scheduled to last until 2 p.m. Since the show premiered last November, she has heard from thousands of people, and some "have been taking road trips to Savannah [where she lives]

A speeding car careered off Kelly Drive and plunged into the Schuylkill River at the height of the rush hour this morning as rowers and runners looked on in horror. The car, a 2000 Buick LeSabre, sailed nearly 30 feet from the embankment before plummeting into the waters. "It was just like a Charles Bronson movie," said Bill Ban, a rower who was finishing up his morning routine at 8 a.m. just north of Boathouse Row. "I heard squealing tires, then boom! Saw the car flying off into the river," Ban said.

Fred Duling celebrated his 60th birthday by rowing 60 miles on the Christina River, in Delaware, a trek that started at dawn and concluded at dusk. This year, at age 66, he ran in the six-mile Schuylkill Navy Run on Thanksgiving - for the 51st consecutive year. Now, Duling has been forced to take on the toughest challenge of his life - recovering from serious spinal injuries suffered in a Dec. 6 fall at his beloved Malta Boat Club on Boathouse Row. No one is sure what exactly occurred, since Duling was working alone in the club, as he often does.

John A. Seitz figured that by June, given the current conditions, he would have been able to walk on the Schuylkill without wetting his Docksiders. That's how thick the silt by Boathouse Row is getting. Months ago, you could step in and get wet up to your calves. Now, said Seitz, you're lucky if the water licks your ankles in some places. For the commander of the Schuylkill Navy, the organization that oversees rowing on the river, that means sculls could get caught in the muck.

If you're jogging, rollerblading or walking the dog along Kelly Drive tomorrow, you'll see his familiar smiling face. You may even want to taste one of his familiar 50-cent pretzels, or $1 bottle of water. That's right, the Chief is officially back. Robert "Chief" Rasmussen will be back at Kelly Drive near Fountain Green Drive today, his victory over Big Business complete. After an outpouring of public support and a whirlwind week away from the Drive, Rasmussen, his dog Ski and his blue concession van will take their spot on Boathouse Row. Yesterday, the Chief and the new concessionaire, Fairmount Management, apparently reached a deal whereby Chief can peddle his pretzels, bottled water and water ice at his own prices - which are up to 50 percent less than the prices the new concessionaire was charging.

Erin Daly really needed Lloyd Hall yesterday. She was wheeling her 3-year-old Jasper in a stroller along Boathouse Row, backpacking her 1-year-old Alex . . . and looking for a bathroom. Jasper needed a bathroom. Bad. Tearfully bad. Attracted by a crowd to Lloyd Hall, she found that the answer was . . . Yes, there is one here. And into the ladies' room she whisked the two boys. Daly, a teacher at Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, was out for an infrequent morning stroll along the river, she said, just "because it's pretty.

The William Penn Foundation has awarded a $147,500 grant to the Fairmount Park Commission for a permanent installation of the lights on Boathouse Row, ensuring that they will continue to be one of Philadelphia's most distinctive symbols. The lights went up 11 years ago for the Bicentennial, crudely nailed to the boathouses. They became popular immediately, offering motorists a nighttime outline of the boathouses visible from the Schuylkill Expressway and West River Drive. Temporary as they were, though, the lights started to burn out, and replacing them was difficult.

The tour has begun at the Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club at 14 Boathouse Row, and Ruth Robinhold is leading the way. Wearing a white long-sleeve T-shirt adorned with a sterling silver rowing pin, white slacks and white sneakers, Robinhold bounds from room to room. She points out the pictures, plaques and framed clippings that adorn the walls, many of which include her, many of which date back to the 1930s. Celebrating its 65th birthday this year, the Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club celebrates Robinhold every day. One of 17 founding members of the club when it was formed in 1938, she has been the only continuous member for the entire 65 years.

When Nehemiah Godizano first decided he wanted to row, he took a logical route. He went to the city's historic and glorious Boathouse Row and knocked on doors. It was 1980 and Godizano was 20 years old, a former competitive swimmer. He had grown up in neighborhoods around Ninth and Luzerne, 22d and Hunting Park, 20th and Tasker. The first person to answer a Boathouse Row door looked him over and apparently did not see the talented athlete who would take to rowing and go on to coaching.

SATURDAY was an unseasonably warm day, an ideal time to be out on the river. It was where Bob Lippa loved to be. He was among more than 30 masters who showed up to row on the Schuylkill that morning. He was stroking one of the quads, a four-man scull, racing against three other boats, when he collapsed. Several doctors and emergency-response personnel were among the rowers, but they were unable to revive him. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Mary Walsh Wright, 82, a skilled horticulturist who shared her talents with her East Falls community, died of Alzheimer's disease Thursday, Dec. 8, at Spring Mill Manor in Lafayette Hill. Mrs. Wright used her maiden name, Walsh, as her nickname because when she and her future husband, Bruce, were dating, he told her the name suited her best. "I thought he'd outgrow it, but he never did," she told The Inquirer in 1991. She and her husband, a lawyer, moved to East Falls in 1972.

FAIRMOUNT PARK is the nation's largest park system, with 9,200 acres. In 2008 it had a budget of $15 million, but by 2010 it was down to $11 million - which barely meets the park's most basic maintenance needs. And its budget situation just keeps getting worse. We need to think out of the box about how to fund the system into the future. The Fairmount Park Commission and other civic leaders have been looking for ways to generate more funding through other means, such as improved concessions.

What: More than 5,500 high school, college, open, and masters competitors from 22 states, the District of Columbia, and four countries row 21/2 miles in the largest regatta on the Schuylkill. When: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Where: The Schuylkill, from the Twin Bridges to Boathouse Row. Schedule: Saturday - collegiate, open, and masters eights and doubles; Sunday - all high school events and remaining open and masters.

In the weeks after the accident, as time began to clarify the devastation visited upon his body, Fred Duling couldn't see much use for himself in this world. He saw an old guy in a wheelchair, dependent on others. Now, a couple of months later, he can see something different. Something more. Duling, 66, sees he can still fulfill his many roles, still be a husband, father, and grandfather, a friend and a mentor. He sees he will still be an integral part of his beloved Boathouse Row. Fred Duling - champion rower, esteemed coach, cherished friend - is slowly making his way forward after breaking his neck in a fall at the Malta boathouse on Dec. 6. Forward to what?

Fred Duling celebrated his 60th birthday by rowing 60 miles on the Christina River, in Delaware, a trek that started at dawn and concluded at dusk. This year, at age 66, he ran in the six-mile Schuylkill Navy Run on Thanksgiving - for the 51st consecutive year. Now, Duling has been forced to take on the toughest challenge of his life - recovering from serious spinal injuries suffered in a Dec. 6 fall at his beloved Malta Boat Club on Boathouse Row. No one is sure what exactly occurred, since Duling was working alone in the club, as he often does.

Rowers on the Schuylkill have been battling something tougher than currents this week - they've been battling oil. The yellow, noxious substance may have been illegally dumped and made its way to the river via a multimillion-dollar storm-relief sewer that opened in June, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Philadelphia Water Department. Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, 29, an avid rower from Fairmount, said he noticed a visible sheen and the smell of gas or oil beginning on Monday and continuing through yesterday morning.

By Karen J. Hamilton When our youngest son, Benjamin, signed up for a two-week rowing camp sponsored by Philadelphia City Rowing, we thought it would expose him to something different, allow him to meet new friends, and keep him occupied for two weeks. It did much more. The camp was one of three sessions designed to introduce students from Philadelphia's public high schools to rowing and prepare them to compete on a citywide team in the fall. The participants met daily at the club's yard on historic Boathouse Row, on the east bank of the Schuylkill.

With the goal of developing elite status and gaining corporate sponsorship, the Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series, comprising 22 annual events on the Schuylkill from March to November, has been established. "It offers year-round exposure to a broad demographic and an increasingly diverse audience," Clete Graham, executive director of the Schuylkill Navy Regatta Directors Forum and former Schuylkill Navy commodore, said Wednesday during the announcement at the Vesper Boat Club on Boathouse Row. The marquee races in the series that will begin in 2011 are the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Championship, Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, Schuylkill Navy Regatta, and Independence Day Regatta.