Many
of our members have been busy donating their time and labor to rebuilding the
waterfront.
In Long Beach, crowbars, shovels, and
sore backs were our tools in trade. We wish to thank Waves 4 Water, Long Beach
Surfers Assoc., Strong Island, Sandy Help LB, and Surfrider for their,
fundraising, and organization efforts.
However, too many are still without homes.
At
Jones Beach, many of us worked in the
cleanups organized by the Ocean Conservancy and Clean Ocean Action through
ForTheShore.org.
On
the North Shore, there were local efforts
in Centerport and Port Washington.
In Lindenhurst, we worked at Ray the Plumber’s Barbecue
cooking local residents hot meals. We distributed much needed food, water,
clothing, and cleaning supplies.
We
continue to be in close contact with officials in the town of Babylon and the NYS office of
Parks. Dredging operations have already
started, but it will depend on the weather and Federal funding to determine how
much can be accomplished, and when. Once
the heavy equipment leaves, these dunes will need to be stabilized. There will be a lot of beach grass that needs
to be planted. We will do our best to
keep you posted on progress and dates.
Heckscher State Park, Sunday, February 24th.
Next
week we will start to tackle Heckscher State Park on The Great South
Bay. Sunday, February 24th, will be the
first of many cleanups there. We will be
working with the Long Island Windsurfing Group.
If we want to open this park this season . . . we have to make it
happen. As many of you who can . . .
Please show up at Heckscher with your drysuits or wetsuits ready to get
wet. We will be checking field 7 [Joe's
Beach], and the swimming area to the east for submerged hazards. If you don't want to get wet show up any way,
there is plenty of work to be done.
Thank
you all for your extraordinary efforts,
LIBAG.
