The annual local beach cleanup took place last weekend, although not as scheduled. Caroline DuBois said the annual Beach Cleanup, originally scheduled for Sept. 18 was cancelled due to the weather conditions created locally by the remains of Hurricane Ivan. "The wind was blowing so hard, there was debris flying through the air and there was lightning," said Ms. DuBois.

A WaterFront Center staffer said there was torrential rain and very, very high winds that day. "It made it too dangerous to have people on the beach and the docks as well. Just to work on the docks to secure our boats, we worked in life jackets, it was that windy we had to be prepared in case we were blown off the pier. It was a nasty day and it didn't let up all day."

Ms. DuBois, said although there was no rain date planned, she received a phone call early Sunday morning from the WaterFront Center saying that kids were there. "I got into action and did a very abbreviated beach cleanup. There were about five teens from Locust Valley High School as well as some individual people," she said.

Everyone was originally invited to come at 10 a.m. to help remove unnatural, washed-up, manmade debris and litter from the beaches. Participants were to learn how discarded items "left on the ground, end up in the Sound."

Ms. DuBois said, "The planning had all gone smoothly with great cooperation between Friends of the Bay, the WaterFront Center and the Atlantic Steamer Fire Company scuba divers as well as the Theodore Roosevelt Park Committee, (chaired by Councilman Chris Coschignano) and Cold Spring Harbor, Locust Valley and Oyster Bay High Schools. The Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts, and FOB volunteers added to the mix. We ended up with a single exhibit tent for everyone, a single pile of garbage and a single cookout. There were 200 individuals scheduled to attend."

The cleanup that did take place brought attention to a problem area, the parking lot called "Pataki Junction" located next to the railroad tracks near the entrance to the western waterfront. "It used to be called Petticoat Junction but the fisherman changed the name to Pataki Junction," she said. "We kept picking up beer cans, and drug paraphernalia: needles and glassine bags. There was also household garbage with kitty litter in the bags."

She said that the sprinkler system in the ball field area of the park was broken and for three days it sprayed during the rain. She spotted another problem at the park. "The litter baskets are all on the beach side and there are none on the train side. That is where 90 percent of the litter is left. There were some items tied in plastic bags and thrown under a bush. The train station area is a horrible mess," she said.

Another local resident complained about the litter and garbage strewn around the Oyster Bay train station. She said residents bringing visitors to Oyster Bay were dismayed to see the condition of the station area.

As for the beach cleanup, Ms. DuBois said, "The beach is not an ash tray." She had a suggestion that there be a redemption program set up for cigarette butts similar to the one for aluminum cans. "Today, they don't throw away soda cans. If there were a redemption program for cigarette butts the beaches and storm drains would be clean," she said.

The following week, on Saturday, Sept. 25, about 50 inner city children from the Bronx, members of the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club were at the WaterFront Center to celebrate National Estuaries Day. Many of the children from the Bronx are also part of the "Studio at the Bay," an organization that helps families transition from living in shelters. They were going to help in the beach cleanup as part of their activities, but there was so much planned for them to do, they weren't able to help clean up the beach.

They paddled their own kayaks, and sailed on 23' sailboats and on the restored oyster sloop Christeen. Twenty-two of the boys from Kips Bay sailed to and from Oyster Bay on the Lettie G. Howard, a 129 ft. two masted tall ship owned and operated by the South Street Seaport under the command of Captain Aaron Singh. Through these activities they learned to appreciate our marine habitats and increase their sense of stewardship for the environment. The WaterFront Center, Kips Bay, Fritz Coudert and the Long Island Sound Study provided funding for this outing.

In addition the US Merchant Marine Academy of Kings Point representatives attended to expose the children to the opportunities to obtain a free highly accredited four year college education and/or a term of service in one of the US Government forces.

But the beach did have a crew working at cleaning up the area. Children from the East Woods School came to do the job. East Woods has a strong environmental program and has taken part in beach cleanups for many years. "People were really devoted to the cause, and we will schedule some type of clean up for the spring," said Jaime Deming, interim general manager of the WaterFront Center.

For questions or further information please contact: Amy Cross, the WaterFront education director at 624-2221, ext. 24 or 0, by e-mail at amy@thewaterfrontcenter.org. To contact Friends of the Bay, call 922-6666.