Time For The Great East End Cleanup
Think spring! Think spring cleaning! Think spring cleanup!
Members of some 30 environmental and community organizations will participate in Saturday's eighth annual Great East End Cleanup, attacking trails, woods, beaches, and roads throughout the day in cooperation with the Towns of East Hampton and Southampton.
Montauk residents who would like to join in can sign up with the Concerned Citizens of Montauk, whose efforts will get under way at 9 a.m. at the gazebo on the Circle. Bill Akin will be on hand as coordinator, issuing plastic bags and assigning volunteers to their posts at Navy Road, Gin Beach, Ditch Plain, the downtown beaches, or Fort Pond.
The newly formed Concerned Students of Montauk group will gather debris at Kirk Park. Their parents and friends have been invited.
Also in Montauk, the trails of Hither Woods will get the once-over under the supervision of Tom Ruhle, Richard Whalen, Peter Liss, and any volunteers they can gather. Hither Woods cleaner-uppers have been asked to call Mr. Ruhle in Montauk.
Clean Sweep
The East Hampton Highway Department, too, will provide plastic bags for the cleanup in East Hampton, courtesy of the State Department of Environmental Conservation. They can be picked up by group leaders, said Dave Paolelli, the town's environmental facilities manager.
Benet Polikoff and Richard Lupoletti of the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society will lead a clean sweep along three miles of beach in Beach Hampton and Amagansett East, with collection bags provided. Volunteers will set out from the Atlantic Avenue Beach parking lot at 10 a.m.
The Accabonac Protection Committee has its sights set on the beaches and roads of Louse Point and Gerard Drive in Springs. Those forces, too, will set forth at 10 a.m., from both scenic spots.
In Southampton
Elsewhere in East Hampton, Stephen Hand's Path has been assigned to the Zonta organization, while the Northwest Creek Task Force will scour the shoreline of that body of water. Northwesters will meet at the launching-ramp parking lot at 9 a.m.
In Sag Harbor, free garbage bags can be picked up at the Sag Harbor recycling center for residents who wish to tackle their neighborhood or favorite beach. Dai Dayton of Bridgehampton can be called for further information.
In Southampton Town, South amp ton College volunteers will be on pick-up duty along Tuckahoe Road. The Nature Conservancy will clean up at and around Chatfield Hill, and the St. Mary's Youth Group has claimed Ponquogue Avenue in East Quogue.
Southampton Town has allocated $5,000 toward hauling construction debris out of town. East Hampton also plans to cart away construction debris.
Meanwhile. . .
Meanwhile, the Group for the South Fork, whose members and friends will also take part in Saturday's cleanup, has spring planting on its mind next week.
All week long, volunteers will be replanting eroded or damaged habitats in East Hampton, Shelter Island, and Southampton, using native plants only.
Both adults and children will be welcome to participate. Vikki Hilles at the Group's Bridgehampton headquarters has more information.
The Week's Hikes
Sunday will bring a seven-mile hike along the entire length of the Northwest Path, led by Ilmar Ratsep of the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society. The path is a segment of the Paumanok Path, the 110-mile trail that will extend from Rocky Point in Brookhaven to Montauk Point when it is completed.
Hikers will meet at 9 a.m. at the end of Alewife Brook Road, by Cedar Point Park.
The society sets out again on Wednesday morning at 10 for a hike around the Grace Estate. Although part of the same Northwest Path, this hike will take a different loop, up Scoy's Path to Kirk's Place and along the bay beach into a little-used section of Cedar Point Park.
The meeting place is next to the schoolhouse plaque on Northwest Road about a quarter-mile from its intersection with Alewife Brook Road.