FRIENDS OF THE BAY INC

Community Cleanup 2021

On November 13th, Friends of the Bay partnered with the Oyster Bay Main Street Association to sponsor a cleanup of South Street in Oyster Bay. An enthusiastic group of volunteers helped collect numerous bag of litter from the surrounding area.

Image credits: Meredith Maus and Christine Suter

Western Waterfront Raingardens Project

On October 17th Friends of the Bay installed two raingardens on the Western Waterfront on the south shore of Oyster Bay Harbor. More than a dozen volunteers from Friends of the Bay and the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary with the help of the town installed the raingardens, which are located in front of the 9/11 Memorial, across from Building J, home of the Ida May Project. Click here for more information about the project.

Image credit: Heather Johnson

About Secretary,
Eric Swenson

Click here for a feature story about Eric.

Eric Swenson has been executive director of the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee since 2003. He is the former chair and current Village of Mill Neck representative on the Oyster Bay / Cold Spring Harbor Protection Committee. Swenson was superintendent of environmental control for the Town of Oyster Bay from 1988 to 2012. He is past president and treasurer of the New York State Association for Solid Waste Management and was the founding director and secretary of the Federation of New York Solid Waste Associations.

He is a board member of the New York Product Stewardship Council, the treasurer of the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District, and a member of the Long Island Sound Study Citizens Advisory Committee. He is the past coordinator of the Town of Oyster Bay Green Energy Task Force and secretary of the Evan R. Liblit Memorial Scholarship Committee at Stony Brook University. Swenson is the secretary of the Friends of Cedarmere, Inc., a past member of the Village of Sea Cliff Recycling Task Force, and a past founding member of the board of Support for People with Oral, Head and Neck Cancer.

International Coastal Cleanup Day

Thank you to our volunteers for participating in the cleanup of Stehli and Centre Island Beaches on September 18th. This cleanup was hosted in partnership with the T.R. Sanctuary and Audubon Center and many volunteers from local schools and organizations. A special thank you to Troop #3450 from Plainview for your big effort.

Photo of Scout Troop #3450 by Kim Koerner-Palmo

A very special thank you goes to our 2021 Sponsors.

PROTECTOR OF THE BAY ($25,000)
Betsy Lawrence

BAY BENEFACTORS ($10,000)
Bahnik Family
David Relyea

ESTUARY GUARDIANS ($5,000)
Donna and Rich Appell
Beth and Kevin Costello
Lindsay and Thomas Thornton

HARBOR MASTERS ($2,500)
Anastasi Family
Carolyn and Joe Kenavan

SITE MONITORS ($1,500)
Bill Bleyer
Deborah and Michael Held
Donna and Mitch Kramer
Colleen and Barry Lamb
Claire-Louise and Matt Meng

COVE CUSTODIANS ($1,000)
Dawn and Glenn Kempa
Rus Lundstrum
Lorie and Steve Minicozzi
Linda Pons
Eric Swenson

ECOSYSTEM KEEPERS ($500)
Patty Anglin and John Taylor
Elayne and Gregory Bradley
Rob Brusca
E Maxwell Geddes, Jr.
Marilyn and Neil Moritt
Carla Panetta
Irwin Selden
Artie Sillman
Cynthia Stebbins

CONSERVATIONISTS ($250)
Christine and Jeffrey Roberts
Marcella and John Specce

Scenes from Launch the Season

Many thanks also go to Rus Lundstrum of Cooper Bluff/Coach Meeting House fame for hosting us. Kudos to our star event coordinator Kelsey Costello for her vision and execution of the event, and to Beth Dalton Costello for her outstanding management of it. As always, we are eternally grateful to all our volunteers including Maureen Walsh, Carolyn Core-Kenavan, Nikole Holowat, Anne Schaentzler, Bea Bagdzuinas and Felicia Anastasi. Last but not least, our raffle baskets were made extra special thanks to the generosity of Lifetime Brands, Colors of Cold Spring Harbor, Damm & Steuer, Mort Künstler, Billy Joel, Massage Therapist Helen Lind, Integrated Body Works, Old Tappan Brewery, Bayville Seafood, Long Island Picture Frame & Art Gallery of Oyster Bay, Susan Dembo Acupuncture, Christine Berge D.C., J. Jaget Customs, Christina’s Epicure, Butera's and Red Tomato.

Photos by Joe Catalano

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Water Quality Monitoring Program

Both new and returning volunteers met with Friends of the Bay staff for our first two training sessions on water quality monitoring on April 14 and 20. Our volunteers were trained on water quality data collection and equipment usage.

We officially started collecting data and water samples on Monday, April 19 and will continue until the last Monday in October, weather permitting. We will post weekly data as it becomes available. Reports can be viewed and downloaded from the water quality data page found under the Monitoring Tab.