This article is intended as a companion piece to What Comes Next for Niagara?, written for anyone who read that piece and wondered what they might do next. It is based on the priorities I discussed there: asking for a real public forum in Erie, encouraging a durable structure for Niagara’s future, and supporting public access, voyage programming, school sails, volunteer participation, maritime expertise, donor trust, and a living mission worthy of Pennsylvania’s flagship. 

But I do not want to suggest that my priorities are the only ones worth sharing. Niagara belongs to the people of Pennsylvania, and everyone who cares about her should feel free to speak in their own voice about what they hope her future will become. I encourage readers to look through my other articles for context, including the main piece to this companion, my testimonial Don’t Give Up the Ship. The Protect Brig Niagara testimonials section is also a great way to see a glimpse how much Niagara has meant to so many people in our community. 

The templates and resources included here are only meant as a starting point: a way to help people organize their thoughts, direct their stories, and share their ideas with the officials who should be listening. If Niagara has mattered to you, I hope you will tell that story in whatever way feels honest to you. 

I believe that our Flagship Niagara’s future should not be decided quietly, behind closed doors, or only according to what is easiest for Harrisburg officials to administer.

Niagara is Pennsylvania’s flagship. Erie is her home port. She is a public vessel, a public trust, and a living symbol of what history can become when people are allowed to experience it directly.

So the public should have a voice in answering the most important question before us:

What do we want Niagara to be?

A dockside exhibit?
A sailing ambassador?
A training vessel?
A school ship?
A public gathering place?
A living link between Erie, Pennsylvania, the Great Lakes, and the people whose lives have been changed aboard her?

For me, the answer is clear: Niagara should be a living vessel. She should sail, teach, train, welcome volunteers, serve Erie, represent Pennsylvania, and help people experience history as something they can touch, feel, and take part in.

But hope alone will not build that future.

We need to ask for it.

This page is meant as a public resource for anyone who wants to contact elected officials, PHMCThe Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the state agency that stewards the U.S. Brig Niagara and Erie Maritime Museum. The PHMC is responsible for the collect... leadership, the Governor’s Office, local media, and community leaders to request a real public forum on Niagara’s future.

My core ask

Please ask public officials to support:

1. A real public forum in Erie on Niagara’s future
   
2. A sustainable governance structure with public accountability
   
3. A meaningful role for Erie, former crew, volunteers, educators, trainees, donors, maritime experts, and community partners
   
4. A future that includes school sails, public access, volunteer participation, voyage programming, maritime training, and living-history education
   
5. A transparent explanation from PHMC and the Governor’s Office about what kind of mission they intend Niagara to fulfill

A public forum should not be a press event. It should not be a closed-door meeting. It should not be a listening session with no follow-through or with empty promises.

A real public forum should include public notice, public testimony, meaningful participation, and a clear explanation of how public input will shape the decisions that follow.

Why this matters now

Niagara is at a crossroads.

The state has invested in her. America’s 250th anniversary is approaching. Public attention is high. That creates an opportunity, but it also creates a danger.

If the public does not clearly say what kind of future it wants for Niagara, the ship’s future may be shaped mostly by administrative convenience, short-term funding, and institutional control.

That is not enough.

A vessel like Niagara needs more than ownership. She needs stewardship.

She needs maritime expertise, crew development, volunteer trust, donor confidence, educational programming, public access, and a community that feels invited into the work.

A public agency can own a ship. It can fund a ship. It can contract repairs. But a living vessel also needs people: sailors, teachers, riggers, shipwrights, volunteers, docents, students, donors, advocates, and shipmates.

Those things cannot be recreated by bureaucratic systems alone but through a living public relationship with the vessel.

Who should hear from the public first?

The most important pressure points right now are:

The Governor’s Office

Call: (717) 787-2500 | Text: (717) 788-8990 | Media Contact: (717) 783-1116

Mail:
Governor Josh Shapiro
501 North 3rd Street
508 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120 

Website: https://www.pa.gov/governor/contact-us

Email / Digital Form: https://www.pa.gov/form/governor/contact.html

The Governor’s Office should hear clearly that Niagara is not just a PHMC administrative matter. She is a statewide public asset and an Erie home-port treasure.

Supporters should ask Governor Josh Shapiro’s office to direct PHMC to hold a real public forum in Erie and to explain how the public will be included in shaping Niagara’s long-term future.

If you have contact with the Governor’s Office, they should be contacted directly as part of this effort. The message should be simple: the Governor’s Office needs to hear from Erie, Western Pennsylvania, and the Niagara community before long-term decisions are made.

PHMC leadership and commissioners

PHMC currently controls Niagara’s state stewardship, so PHMC leadership and the PHMC Commission should hear directly from the public. Supporters should ask PHMC to publicly define the mission they intend Niagara to serve and explain how Erie, former crew, volunteers, educators, trainees, donors, maritime professionals, and the broader public will be included in shaping that future.

Importantly, PHMC Commission meetings are open to the public. Whenever possible, I encourage supporters to attend these meetings in person, listen closely, and respectfully make Niagara’s future visible in the room. Public attendance matters. Even when no immediate decision is made, showing up reminds the Commission that Niagara is not an abstract asset on a report. She is Pennsylvania’s flagship, Erie’s home-port vessel, and a living public mission that many people still care deeply about.

Supporters should also review PHMC’s public comment policy, watch for upcoming meeting dates and agendas, and contact PHMC staff ahead of time if they have questions about access or participation. If Niagara’s future is being discussed by the Commission, the public should be there to hear it. If Niagara’s future is not being discussed, the public should be asking why.

The Commission Meeting Schedule information can be found here.

Local and regional officials

County executives, county commissioners, city officials, tourism leaders, school leaders, historical organizations, and civic groups should also be encouraged to speak up.

A strong public call from local leaders would make it much harder for PHMC or the Governor’s Office to treat Niagara’s future as an internal administrative matter.

Western Pennsylvania legislators in particular should not let Niagara become a Harrisburg-only decision.

Niagara’s home is Erie. Her economic, educational, and cultural impact extends across Northwest Pennsylvania and the Great Lakes. The region’s senators and representatives should be asked to push for a public forum, legislative oversight, and a governance structure that includes public accountability and local voice.

This is especially important for legislators representing Erie County and the surrounding Northwest Pennsylvania counties.

Contact list

Use this list as a starting point. Constituents should always contact their own legislators first, but Niagara’s future should matter to the whole Western Pennsylvania delegation.

Pennsylvania state senators

Official	District / region	District office phone	Capitol phone	Link
Sen. Dan Laughlin	SD-49, Erie County	814-453-2515	717-787-8927	Senate profile
Sen. Scott Hutchinson	SD-21, Butler, Clarion, Erie, Forest, Venango, Warren	814-677-6345 Oil City; 724-282-1234 Butler; 814-728-2100 Warren	717-787-9684	Senate profile
Sen. Michele Brooks	SD-50, Crawford, Mercer, Lawrence ; also PHMC commissioner	724-588-8911 Greenville; 814-337-8132 Meadville; 724-654-1444 New Castle	717-787-1322	Senate profile
Sen. Elder Vogel	SD-47, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence	724-774-0444 Rochester; 878-978-2575 Cranberry Twp.	717-787-3076	Senate profile
Sen. Timothy P. Kearney	SD-26, Delaware County; also PHMC Commissioner	610-544-6120 Media office; 610-352-3409 Upper Darby office	717-787-1350	Senate Profile

Northwest / Western Pennsylvania state representatives

Start with your own representative, then consider contacting other regional lawmakers whose districts touch Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Warren, Forest, Clarion, Venango, Lawrence, Butler, or nearby Western Pennsylvania counties.

Key names to consider include:

Official	District / region	District office phone	Capitol phone	Link
Rep. Patrick Harkins	HD-1, Erie	814-459-1949	717-787-7406	Official House profile
Rep. Robert Merski	HD-2, Erie	814-455-6319	717-787-4358	Official House profile
Rep. Ryan Bizzarro	HD-3, Erie	814-835-2880	717-772-2297	Official House profile
Rep. Jacob Banta	HD-4, Erie	814-347-7110 North East; 814-796-7375 Waterford; 814-774-3105 Girard	717-783-9087	Official House profile
Rep. Brad Roae	HD-6, Crawford, Erie	814-336-1136 Meadville; 814-683-6031 Linesville	717-787-2353	Official House profile
Rep. Parke Wentling	HD-7, Mercer; also PHMC commissioner	724-734-5980 Hermitage; 724-638-4101 Greenville	717-783-5008	Official House profile
Rep. Aaron Bernstine	HD-8, Butler, Lawrence	724-752-2120 Ellwood City; 724-847-5291 Butler	717-783-8322	Official House profile
Rep. Marla Brown	HD-9, Lawrence	724-498-4397; toll-free 833-431-0502	717-783-2017	Official House profile
Rep. Robert Matzie	HD-16, Beaver; also PHMC commissioner	724-266-7774 Ambridge; toll-free 833-787-5108; 724-987-4341 Center Twp.	717-787-4444	Official House profile
Rep. Timothy Bonner	HD-17, Butler, Mercer	724-458-4911	717-783-6438	Official House profile
Rep. Josh Bashline	HD-63, Armstrong , Clarion	814-226-9000 Clarion; 724-954-3613 Kittanning	717-772-9908	Official House profile
Rep. R. Lee James	HD-64, Crawford, Venango	814-677-6413 Seneca; 814-827-6054 Titusville	717-783-8188	Official House profile
Rep. Kathy Rapp	HD-65, Crawford, Forest, Warren	814-723-5203 Warren; 814-398-3074 Cambridge Springs	717-787-1367	Official House profile

The request does not need to be complicated:

Please ask PHMC and the Governor’s Office to hold a real public forum in Erie before Niagara’s future is finalized.

What to say when you contact officials

Keep the message personal, firm, and specific.

You do not need to write a legal brief. You do not need to know every detail of the contract history. You do not need to be a former crew member.

The most powerful thing you can do is explain why Niagara matters to you.

Tell them:

• how you know Niagara
• what she meant to you, your family, your students, your business, your community, or your sense of Erie
• why the public deserves a voice
• what you want officials to do now

Letter template

Subject: Please support a public forum on Brig Niagara’s future

Dear [Title and Last Name],

I am writing to ask you to support a real public forum in Erie on the future of the U.S. Brig Niagara.

Niagara is not just a museum object or a line item in a state budget. She is Pennsylvania’s flagship, Erie’s home-port treasure, and a public vessel whose future should be shaped by the people she exists to serve.

For me, Niagara matters because:

[Write your personal story here. Did you sail aboard her? Visit her as a student? Volunteer? Attend Tall Ships Erie? Bring your children aboard? Watch her return to Presque Isle Bay? Learn history from her? Find confidence, purpose, vocation, or community through her?]

I believe Niagara is at her best when she is a living vessel: sailing, teaching, training, welcoming volunteers, inspiring students, and carrying Pennsylvania’s history beyond the dock and into the real world.

That is why I am asking you to support:

• a real public forum in Erie with public notice and public testimony
• a transparent explanation of PHMC’s long-term plan for Niagara
• a sustainable governance structure with public accountability
• a meaningful role for Erie, volunteers, former crew, educators, trainees, donors, and maritime experts
• continued public access, school sails, voyage programming, youth leadership, volunteer participation, and maritime training

Please urge the Governor’s Office, PHMC leadership, and the PHMC Commission to treat Niagara’s future as a matter of public stewardship, not merely internal administration.

Niagara belongs to the people of Pennsylvania. Erie is her home port. The community should have a voice in her future.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Town / County]
[Your Email or Phone]

---

Short phone script

Hello, my name is [name], and I live in [town/county].

I am calling to ask [official name] to support a real public forum in Erie on the future of the U.S. Brig Niagara.

Niagara is Pennsylvania’s flagship, and her future should not be decided without public input. I would like [official name] to ask PHMC and the Governor’s Office to hold a public forum with public notice, testimony, and follow-through.

I also want Niagara’s future to include public access, school sails, voyage programming, volunteer participation, maritime expertise, and a sustainable governance structure.

Please pass along my request. Thank you.

---

Short email version

Subject: Please support a public forum on Niagara’s future

Dear [Title and Last Name],

I am writing to ask you to support a real public forum in Erie on the future of the U.S. Brig Niagara.

Niagara is Pennsylvania’s flagship and Erie’s home-port treasure. Her future should be shaped by public stewardship, not just administrative convenience.

Please urge PHMC and the Governor’s Office to hold a public forum with public notice, public testimony, and a clear explanation of how public input will shape Niagara’s future.

I also ask that Niagara’s future include public access, school sails, voyage programming, volunteer participation, maritime expertise, and a sustainable governance structure.

Niagara belongs to the people of Pennsylvania. Erie deserves a voice in her future.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Town / County]

---

Social media posts

Option 1

Niagara is our ship. Her future should be shaped by the people of Pennsylvania, not decided quietly behind closed doors. Please ask the Governor’s Office, PHMC, and Western Pennsylvania legislators to hold a real public forum in Erie. #BrigNiagara #EriePA

Option 2

Brig Niagara should be a living vessel: sailing, teaching, training, welcoming volunteers, and inspiring students. If Niagara changed your life, tell that story and ask public officials for a real forum on her future. #NiagaraChangesLives

Option 3

A public forum means public notice, public testimony, and follow-through. Niagara deserves more than a closed-door process. Erie deserves a voice. Pennsylvania deserves a living flagship. #DontGiveUpTheShip

Option 4

If you sailed on Niagara, volunteered, visited her, brought students aboard, attended Tall Ships Erie, or simply believe she matters, now is the time to speak up. Contact the Governor’s Office, PHMC, and your legislators. Ask for a public forum.

---

What supporters should ask media to cover

When contacting local media, keep the pitch focused. Make it about public stewardship.

Suggested media pitch:

Brig Niagara is Pennsylvania’s flagship and one of Erie’s defining public treasures. PHMC and the Governor’s Office are making decisions about her future, but the public has not yet had a meaningful forum to say what kind of mission Niagara should serve.

Former trainees, volunteers, crew members, educators, donors, and community members are asking for a real public forum in Erie before long-term decisions are finalized.

This is a story about public history, Erie’s identity, maritime education, youth development, volunteerism, tourism, and whether Niagara will remain a living vessel or slowly become something less.

Questions public officials should answer

Any public forum should ask PHMC and state leaders to answer clear questions:

1. What is PHMC’s long-term mission for Niagara?
2. Will Niagara remain an active sailing vessel?
3. How often does PHMC intend Niagara to sail?
4. Will there be school sails, youth programs, and voyage programming?
5. How will volunteers be included?
6. How will former crew and maritime experts be consulted?
7. What role will Erie have in governance and planning?
8. How will donor trust and community partnership be rebuilt?
9. What happens after America 250?
10. What governance structure will protect Niagara through future budget cycles and leadership changes?
11. How will PHMC ensure that Niagara’s care is guided by maritime expertise, not just museum administration?
12. Will PHMC commit to a public process before final decisions are made?

Why personal stories matter

Public officials need to understand that Niagara is not only a ship. She is a place where people have found courage, discipline, vocation, healing, confidence, and community.

If Niagara changed your life, tell that story.

Tell Protect Brig Niagara. Tell your legislator. Tell the Governor’s Office. Tell PHMC. Tell your local newspaper. Tell your friends. Post it publicly.

A ship like Niagara cannot be protected by sentiment alone. But sentiment becomes powerful when people turn it into public testimony, civic pressure, and organized advocacy.

The public helped save Niagara before.

It can happen again.

But only if people speak clearly, now, about the future they want for Pennsylvania’s flagship.