Driving down route 106, I admire the leaves changing to their shades of golden yellow and orange-spice; and, I know, fall is here. It's a time of transition, a time for change. Change is the one thing constant in life. It happens at home, in our relationships and in our jobs. It even happens here in the Town of Oyster Bay. Like the start-up of the new restaurant Wild Honey and the closing of Bookmark Café; "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

Speaking of changes, we saw many here at Friends of the Bay throughout the year. Some we foresaw, some we did not. Dissolved oxygen levels declined during the summer months and rose during the cooler months. That we anticipated. Coliform bacteria levels were higher in the Mill Neck creek area compared to other monitoring sites within the estuary. This was predicted. Areas of the bay that were shown to be clearest in terms of water clarity were the center of Cold Spring Harbor, the entrance to Oyster Bay, and the center of West Harbor. This, as well, was expected. We knew we'd see volunteers come and go. (Anyone who works in a nonprofit organization understands that this goes with the territory). We updated our water quality monitoring display boards to be more efficient. Last, but certainly not at all the least, we designed our website to include recent water quality monitoring information for those interested to view at www.friendsofthebay.org.

Although we had many changes we expected and even initiated, some we did not. Such as, the outpouring of generosity from those people who lent their time and efforts toward making the water quality monitoring program a success. They are as follows: Hank Kasven, whose reliability and humor as a captain made our trips fly by; Denise Wurtz, who always made time in her tight schedule to be there when we needed her; Nicholas Naphenas, who made every effort to learn each piece of equipment aboard the Baywatch II; Catherine McConnell, who went above and beyond her duties as a volunteer and sought other opportunities to support Friends of the Bay; Clint Smith, who knows the bay like the back of his hand, Jim Monk, whose eye for detail saved us many times; Bud Rappuhn, who served as a back-up captain when needed; Linda Storaekre, who took the responsibility for recording data to a higher level; Dave Relyea: back-up plans, ice provisions, replacement drivers, moral support (you'll never know how thankful I am, Dave!); Larry Schmidlapp, for providing us with a safe space to store our Baywatch II during the off-season; the Oyster Bay Marine Center, Bridge Marine Sales and Marina, South Mall Analytical Labs, the Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot and the Guardian for their ongoing support and donated services. If there is anyone I have forgotten, please forgive me and thank you so much for all of your support and efforts toward this year's water quality monitoring season. Tune in next week for my last installment for the season.