[Announce] Oct 14: FREE Jamaica Bay fun! TREE PLANTING, PADDLING, POT LUCK BBQ, STAR PARTY!

[Erik Baard]

Oct 14: Jamaica Bay Planting, Paddling, BBQ/Solar Oven Cookout, and 
Star Party!

FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE

Organizers: LIC Community Boathouse, Friends of Gateway, Amateur 
Astronomers Association of NY, NatureCalendar.com

We are gathering 15-20 people for a wonderful day in Jamaica Bay, 
perhaps New York City's most vibrant ecosystem. We still have spots 
open!

You can travel directly to Floyd Bennett Field or meet at the LIC 
Community Boathouse at 10AM. See the directions page for the Anable 
Basin boathouse at http://www.licboathouse.org

DAY PLAN

First we'll enjoy snacks and an orientation at 11:30 AM. Then at noon 
we'll plant trees with Friends of Gateway (our largest local national 
park -- http://treebranch.com ) for about 2.5 hours. A potluck BBQ and 
an SOS Sport Solar Oven-cooked meal ( http://www.solarovens.org ) will 
follow. Those who want to paddle can then hit the water for a couple of 
hours (launching sometime between 4PM and 5PM, at a bit after high 
water slack and heading into the bay -- ebb current will carry paddlers 
back), while others might opt to hike and bird watch. We'll all 
reconvene at 7PM for snacks (perhaps more BBQ) at sunset and a star 
party, viewing the heavens through volunteers' telescopes and new 
friends from the Amateur Astronomers Association of NY 
(http://www.aaa.org)!

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE TREE PLANTING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT, CENTRAL 
MISSION OF PUBLIC SERVICE FOR THE DAY.

Volunteers with cars and telescopes are urgently needed. Small BBQ 
grills are welcome too. All others please bring something to BBQ or 
cook in a solar oven, generously provided by the Solar Oven Society 
through ECOFEST's ( http://www.ecofest.com ) Nancy Callahan and the 
West Side Cultural Center. Potluck food for the BBQ is up to you! 
Please also bring a dry change of clothing and the usual common sense 
items -- hat, sunglasses,aspirin, etc.

Email erik at licboathouse.org with your interest and resources.

More about the core mission of the day provided by FoG's Dave Lutz, an 
urban outdoors pioneer:


Plant a Trail of Trees at Gateway National Recreation Area

Get your hands dirty on the Second Saturday of each month at Floyd 
Bennett
Field in Brooklyn. Friends of Gateway (FoG) seeks a score of volunteers 
to
help plant over fifty trees in a single day on October 14th. "Floyd 
Bennett
Field is Brooklyn's National Park and the largest single park in 
Brooklyn.
Changing it from its former military and aviation uses and making it
hospitable for park uses will require special attention to its need for
shade, especially in an era of global warming" noted Dave Lutz, 
executive
director of Friends of Gateway. "The fall planting season is critical 
to the
success of FoG's effort to grow plants for the park. Meeting this 
one-day
goal will make a big difference in years to come."

The event will take place on Saturday, October 14th and be part of FoG's
Second Saturday series of conservation efforts at the Gateway 
Greenhouse.
Participants will meet at the greenhouse at 11:30 for snacks. The event
begins at 12 noon. Participants will plant a trail of trees from the
greenhouse to the Park entrance.

The day is designed to be family friendly. There will be enough to do so
that adults with or without children can contribute and have fun at the 
same
time. FoG also has a long list of projects that need to be done which
require special skills, so people with horticultural background, art 
skills,
carpentry, plumbing, or electrical backgrounds are especially welcome 
at the
Gateway Greenhouse. People with special skills should call 212-228-3126 
so
that arrangements can be made.

Gateway National Recreation Area was created 30 years ago with the 
transfer
of mostly military infrastructure to the National Park Service. Friends 
of
Gateway is now encouraging New Yorkers to help improve their own park. 
"We
hope to develop a community of volunteer stewards to work with us to 
make
Gateway as much a stellar example of urban land restoration as Yosemite 
and
Yellowstone are of rural land preservation", said Dave Lutz.




LIC Community Boathouse
http://www.licboathouse.org

Nature Calendar
http://www.naturecalendar.com - coming soon!

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