Garden City environmental group
participates at expo
More than 2,000 Long Islanders enjoyed the festivities at Captree State Park as Assemblyman Joseph Saladino hosted the ninth annual Marine and Outdoor Recreation Expo on Sept. 15.
Attendees learned about sustainable sources of energy as well as ways to protect the planet, especially the island’s marine environment from people like local environmentalist Betsy Gulotta. There were demonstrations in camping, boating, water safety, renewable energy, wildlife and environmental education, fly fishing, arts and crafts, face painting, clowns, touch tanks, balloon animals and plenty of rock and roll.
“[The Marine Expo] is designed to teach families about protecting our marine environment and to introduce them to the many businesses that create marine recreation,” said Saladino. “We would like to see the charter boat captains and their boats stay in business. We want to draw people here. It is very important for them to learn about the quality of our waters, not only salt water but the fresh water we count on for our drinking supply, and most of all it is a really fun day in the summer with some of the best musicians on Long Island.”
Legislator Michael Venditto the event was a great way to cap off the summer.
“Events like this are made possible by the great leadership of Assemblyman Saladino and leaders like him in the community but also by our residents here who frequent the south shore,” said Venditto. “They always give a lot back to the community so days like this are really what it is all about.”
There were many educational exhibits for people to learn about different organizations, including Garden City’s Friends of Hempstead Plaines, which is a nonprofit environmental organization based at Nassau Community College. Gulotta, the organization’s conservation project manager, explained the mission statement of her organization.
“We contract with the college to manage and protect 19 acres of historic Hempstead Plains Prairie. It is actually part of a tall grass prairie of 40,000 acres of land all across Nassau County,” she said. “My organization is dedicated to protecting and restoring the historic prairie. We have educational programs for children, students and the community to teach them about prairie habitats, conservation, saving open space and about the plants and animals that depend upon on it. We have walks on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Anyone interested in finding out more can shoot us an email at info@friendsofhp.org or call 516-572-7575 ext. 26531.”
As the day drew to a close, an ad-hoc group of musicians came together that included Creation Arts owner Brian Carroll, Birch Lane teacher Bill Pollock and drummer Gary Setzer, brother of Stray Cats founding member Brian Setzer.
As the last rays of sunlight glistened across the bay time, stood still as grown men once again became those teenagers playing music in a garage on Compass street in Massapequa.
