The Friends
are proud to announce that we have secured the following capacity
building grants that will greatly help us in strengthening our
organization for the benefit of Connetquot River State Park Preserve:
Sign up for the Friends
of Connetquot
email newsletter to receive notifications of upcoming events,
notices and other news related to the community and our organization.
The Friends of Connetquot
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the
preservation, conservation and continuation for
future generations of the Connetquot River State
Park Preserve. In order to maintain the
environmental, ecological, cultural and historical
integrity of the 3,473 acre preserve, the groups’
initiatives are:
•
To help preserve the pristine
environment
•
To lend support to the management
•
To help support the fishing
habitat, woodlands, flora and fauna, hiking and
bridle trail facilities and the educational programs
•
To help protect and restore
historic buildings
The Friends of
Connetquot believe that the act of preservation is
best accomplished when we keep an eye on the past, a
foothold in the present, and our arms outstretched
for the future.
Long
Island State Parks and Historic Sites in Danger
New York State is planning on closing many State
Parks and Historic Sites under the heading of budget
cuts. We don't have to explain in too
great detail what a disaster this would be for the
millions of people this would affect, not only
locally but throughout the state.
HOW CAN YOU
HELP?
We ask you to help us in our battle to save these
terrific resources by contacting Governor David
Patterson and ask him to scrap this plan. We
have provided a letter for you to print out and mail
to the Governor in PDF format. All you have to
do is sign it and send it. Click
here to download the letter
Mail is usually a more effective tool as email
can be easily filtered and deleted automatically. However,
if you wish to contact the Governor via email, you
can do so on his website at:
http://www.ny.gov/governor/contact/index.html.
Just look for the "Click here to email the Governor"
link.
Whichever method you choose, we only ask
that if you care to save these terrific resources
you act as soon as possible.
Thank you.
We also
ask that you contact the following local politicians
and ask for their support in opposing the closings:
District Office:
State Office Bldg, Suite 2A-1
Veterans' Memorial Highway
Hauppauge, NY 11788
Tel: (631) 360-3356
Fax: (631) 360-3269
Albany Office:
905 Legislative Office Building
Albany, New York 12247
Tel: (518) 455-2303
Fax: (518) 426-6825
Friends of Connetquot's 2010 Mid-Year Appeal
The Friends of Connetquot 2010 Mid-Year Appeal is
Now in Progress
Have you sent in your
contribution? There is still time to help.
Connetquot River State Park Preserve needs the
support of ALL who enjoy its breathtaking natural
beauty and evocative historic buildings. Every
dollar the Friends receive is applied toward
enhancing your experience of this magnificent place.
In 2010, the Friends are working diligently to
re-open the Hatchery and complete the restoration of
the historic Grist Mill. Your support makes these
important projects possible, and we hope you will
join us by supporting these efforts.
Although generous gifts are always welcome,
please remember that no amount is too small to show
that you care. Please send your gift today.
Friends of Connetquot, Inc.
P. O. Box 472
Oakdale, NY 11769
Friends of Connetquot is a 501(3) (C) non-profit
corporation.
Gifts are tax-deductible to the extent the law
allows.
The Chairman's Letter for Spring 2010 has been
released.
Here are the highlights:
Thanks to the Long Island State Parks Fishing Advisory Board, which is donating the necessary funds, the preserve will remain open according to its regular schedule.
We still need to encourage Governor Paterson
and the NY legislature to agree on a budget that
does not require any parks to close and that
provides sufficient funds for daily operation.
Three new people have been inducted to serve
on our Board of Trustees: Rita Trapani as
Secretary and Aimee and Randolph Schmitt.
The first of the Friends three lectures for
2010 was held. Gary Lawton, Regional
Environmental Manager for the Parks Long Island
Region, gave an exceptional presentation on the
natural history of Connetquot State Park
Preserve.
The Board has been working diligently
applying for grants to be used to continue
restoration of the mill and other planned
projects.
The State is resuming the restoration work
on the mill.
Friends of Connetquot's
13th Annual Fun Trail Ride - May 2nd, 2010
The
sun finally shone of the Friends of Connetquot
annual fun ride. After several years of less than
perfect weather we had a great day May 2nd.
Gil Bergen and his dedicated, but sparse staff at
Connetquot River Preserve cleaned the barn, set up
our tables and had all the trails cleared despite
last month’s Nor’easter. 300 trees fell in the
preserve but you’d never know it to ride the miles
of trails. The jewel of Long Island’s trail riding
was as bright as ever. We had over 50 people
pre-registered and about 50 more showed up on a
marvelous day.
UPDATE:SIGN OUR PETITION! Here's how you can
help try to re-open the Connetquot Hatchery as soon
as practical.
Please print, sign and circulate
this petition among your neighbors and friends.
When completed, please return it to:
Friends of
Connetquot
Box 472
Oakdale, NY 11769
Thank you for your help.
UPDATE:
The Fisherman's Angelo Peluso has written an
article titled "Requiem for a Trout Stream."
The title says it all. If you don't understand
the widespread ramifications of the closing of the
hatchery, this article will open your eyes.
Click here to download the PDF or read the
article on our "In the News" page.
UPDATE:
The Fisherman's Fred Golofaro has written a
passionate and detailed article outlining the entire
hatchery situation...it's a must read. Mr. Golofaro has generously given us permission to
display the article on this website and also
supplied a PDF.
Click here to
download the PDF or read the article on our
"In the News" page.
UPDATE:
Newsday's Jennifer Maloney has covered the hatchery
closing with a story that ran on page A24 on Sunday, August 23,
2009.
Click here to read the article.
UPDATE:
The Long Island Press has the first story following
the Phil Nolan press conference regarding the
hatchery.
Click here to read the article.UPDATE:
Dr. Richard Steinberger extensively researched the
issue of the hatchery closing for the
Idle Hour Fly
Fishers titled, Connetquot River State Park Trout
Hatchery: Victim of Nature and Dysfunctional
Government.
Show
your pride in Connetquot State Park while helping
support the efforts of the Friends of Connetquot.
The Friends of
Connetquot store is now online featuring
terrific items as our Canvas Tote or T-Shirt proudly
displaying a printed image of the Nichols Gristmill.
Also available are our forest green Cotton Golf/Polo
Shirts and Heavyweight Crew Neck Sweatshirt.
All proceeds go toward supporting the Friends of
Connetquot and all major credit cards and PayPal are
accepted.
Help
the Friends of Connetquot Raise Funds to Restore the
Grist Mill
The
Friends of Connetquot is presently working with the
State of New York to restore the grist mill,
which
is a landmark of the Preserve and a registered
National Historic structure. It is the only
surviving "tub wheel"
mill on the east coast. With your support we can
make this structure a working mill and preserve it
for generations to
come. Plans have been prepared and work has started
but we need money to complete the mill restoration
and to
continue funding improvements to maintain and
enhance the Park.
Please click here to read
more about our effort and how you can help.
The
sun finally shone of the Friends of Connetquot
annual fun ride. After several years of less than
perfect weather we had a great day May 2nd.
Gil Bergen and his dedicated, but sparse staff at
Connetquot River Preserve cleaned the barn, set up
our tables and had all the trails cleared despite
last month’s Nor’easter. 300 trees fell in the
preserve but you’d never know it to ride the miles
of trails. The jewel of Long Island’s trail riding
was as bright as ever. We had over 50 people
pre-registered and about 50 more showed up on a
marvelous day.
Show
your pride in Connetquot State Park while helping
support the efforts of the Friends of Connetquot.
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