We seek to reintroduce native plants and animals and control invasive species. Our restored landscape provides visitors with an opportunity to learn about plants and animals that are native to our area while improving the ecology of the Park and Little Neck Bay.
RANDOM ACTS
Fall, 2012 was a particularly difficult time for many of us. Each of us probably knows of someone who has felt the effects of Superstorm Sandy and its following Nor’easter. Areas of Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens, Long Beach, Belle Harbor, and Long Island have yet to recover fully as of this writing. It may well be that they may never return to what they once were. This, followed by the tragedy of Newtown Elementary, makes this fall one we would like to erase. But since we can’t start from the beginning we need to pick up and move on. Thankfully we have seen random acts of kindness by people from all corners of the world performed by strangers who have come to the aid of the victims and their families. Food, clothing, cash donations, concerts, toys for the children during the holidays, and many more kindnesses by people “paying it forward.” I would like to make this suggestion to those of you who believe, as I do, in performing random acts of kindness or “paying it forward.”
Please make the Alley Pond Environmental Center the recipient of one of those acts. During APEC’s more than 30 years of operation, it has provided environmental education for hundreds of thousands of school aged and pre-school children. It has provided classes and services for adults in the metropolitan area. Our interns have gone on to promising careers, some in the environmental fields. In crises, APEC has collected food, clothing, and toys, acted as a charging station for electronics to keep the community connected, and provided a site for blood drives and CPR training. Now, APEC needs your help. Many of our funding sources are drying up. While we have received generous funding for a new building our general operating funds have suffered. If you are paying it forward think of the Alley Pond Environmental Center.
APEC depends on its donations, registration fees, and sponsorships for much of its general operating funds. Consider becoming a sponsor or making an outright donation in honor of a loved one, or for a special event, birthday, or anniversary. Buy a raffle ticket or photograph, take a Gala journal ad, or order some birdseed. Donate your time or needed equipment. Join us at one of our events during the year. Most of all join us and take advantage of the trails and facilities at the Alley Pond Environmental Center. It’s spring and our little piece of nature is beginning to put on its spring show. If the pleas mentioned above don’t move you please check TIDINGS for others that might interest you and come on over to the Alley Pond Environmental Center.
See you at APEC!!
Rita Sherman
FIRST…THE BAD NEWS
Superstorm Sandy and a snowy Nor’easter wrecked havoc on our city, our community, Alley Pond Park, APEC, and our friends, neighbors, and families. It will take some of us weeks and months to recover. Some of us lost power; some lost cars; some lost homes; some basements were flooded and trees were downed. The subways stopped running; tunnels flooded; the city was paralyzed. Nature gave us a good dose of her capabilities.
• APEC closed.
• The annual square dance was cancelled.
• The Haunted Halloween Hike for the older children was cancelled.
• Almost all class trips have been cancelled.
• APEC’s 2012 GREEN GALA had to be postponed.
• When APEC reopened we found we had no telephone service, credit card capabilities, or fax machine. We are not likely to have landlines until December. All service is being handled by one pre-paid cell phone.
NOW…THE GOOD NEWS
We may be battered BUT we are not bruised (well-maybe a little.) Good things seem to have happened because of these two storms.
• Staff and their families, Board members, volunteers, and teachers came together to help clear the grounds.
• While most class trips have been cancelled, some have been rescheduled, and the staff is offering outreach instead. Some staff members that have never done outreach are learning something new!
• The older Trick or Treaters were included with the Teeny Tiny ones and APEC VP Richard Blum contributed age appropriate scary stories to make the event more fun. They were even able to hike the trails with Kimesha because of all of the volunteers who came to APEC to clear the debris. Panera Bread donated cookies for the event.
• APEC became a warming center and charging station and a collection area for donated items for relief. APEC staff members, Councilwoman Crowley, Community Church of Douglaston, and the Lions Club helped bring the items to the disaster area.
• APEC has seen a significant increase in our facebook hits and in our email. We are becoming more interactive!
• LAST but not least – We have a new animal educator born during Superstorm Sandy. Does anyone have a name for our new DOVE???
Many thanks from the bottom of APEC’s heart to all of those who have helped us through a very difficult period. See you at APEC!
Rita Sherman
Hurricane Sandy Relief Drive
On behalf of Alley Pond Environmental Center, I want to personally thank everyone in our APEC community who generously donated to assist those significantly affected by Hurricane Sandy. The outpouring of clothing, blankets, toiletries, baby items, dog food, water, etc. was far beyond our expectations.
Over the weekend, Councilwoman, Elizabeth Crowley, had staff members collect several car loads of water, toiletries and non-perishables to bring to Atlas Mall where it was then distributed to the Rockaways. On Tuesday, Cailyn De Bie, from the Community Church of Douglaston, collected a car load of clothing and took it to families in need on Long Island. Yesterday, Antonio Litman, founder of Virginia’s House of Hope, came with a truck and filled it with items to be distributed to those living in the devastation of Breezy Point. Lastly, the Lion’s Club sent over a huge truck that was filled to the brim with clothing, etc. and taken to the Visiting Nurses of Far Rockaway distribution center.
Again, I want to express my sincere and deep felt thanks to all who contributed material and human assets to ensure the overwhelming success of our Hurricane Sandy relief effort.
Sincerely yours,
Rosemarie Favuzza-Papachristou
Head of Education
We(Really)DidIt!
On behalf of APEC’s animals, we wanted to extend our thanks to everyone who supported our WeDidIt crowdfunding campaign.With their help, we raised a total of $1,035 , which is 207% of our original goal.With these funds, we will be able to purchase food and supplies for our animals for over 2 months!
Once again, we thank them so much for their support. We could not have done this without them. Their willingness to share our organization with others is deeply appreciated.
One Week of Service
To fulfill their One Week of Service commitment, we were once again joined by Capital One associates for a fun afternoon of volunteering. This Capital One event focuses on getting as many associates as possible out of the bank and into the community to support different events and organizations. We thank them for their service to the community and our organization!
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
"Everyday we learn just how fragile our Earth has become…. People effect the Earth in many ways. People are the solution to saving wildlife and wild lands," said Wildlife scientist and The Human Footprint project leader, Dr. Eric Sanderson. The Wildlife Conservation Society has been mapping man's impact on each kilometer of the Earth and has indicated that people directly affect a full 83% of the Earth's surface. They therefore encourage the public to anticipate the consequences of their choices and to proceed more carefully toward the future.
APEC has been at the forefront of both the acknowledgement of man's impact on the environment and the need to take responsibility and move to action. People are the cause and the solution. There is a connection between people, the environment, and wildlife. We need to make conscious choices that address the challenges of climate change, wildlife health, natural resources, and human needs.
Think of this – If every American home replaced just one light bulb with the energy efficient bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year and prevent green house gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars! American homes can save another half ton of carbon emissions every year by unplugging appliances when they are not in use. Take shorter showers; buy a hybrid the next time you change your automobile; think global, shop local; use a tote bag instead of a plastic one; use recycled paper; try to be "tree free"; use the on/off switches; don't idle when waiting in your car. What you do counts.
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. The Alley Pond Environmental Center is also in that fight but on a local level. The WSC does it by global conservation. APEC does it through environmental education of nearly 50,000 children and adults each year, through protection of its parkland, waterways, and other open spaces, and advocacy of sustainable environmental policies. We work hard to change attitudes towards nature and help the public to gather an awareness of and appreciation for our environmental impact. With awareness comes understanding and with understanding comes advocacy, conservation, protection, and CHANGE. Each of us needs to take a small step toward making the change to lessen our environmental impact. Lots of small steps make a huge impression. Take a small step now!
SEE YOU AT APEC.
Rita Sherman,
Board Chairman
Did you know?
Our reservoir levels are at least 4 per cent below normal. The first three months of this year have been warm and dry. We can't expect much snowmelt this spring. We may be in for a drought summer! Please begin to plan ahead if this will indeed be the case! Many thanks to one of our long time members for bringing this to our attention.
Recycled Arts!
Cadette Troop 4-725 recently conducted "Recycled Arts!" workshops. Their goal was to educate children about the importance of protecting our environment and reducing waste by recycling. As a team, Kelly Leem, Casey Tin, Yuri Suh and Kaitlyn Scanlon presented an interactive and informative lesson plan on the importance of recycling everyday items. They engaged the children in the Green Match-Up game, where they were asked to categorize and explain why certain materials are recyclable and non-recyclable. Lastly, the children spent time working on two very creative crafts. The birdfeeder and mosaic photo frames were created using empty milk and juice cartons and used gift cards that were collected by the girls. The team's project advisors are Joy Lu and Carmen Shum.
Arbor Day Thanks!!
A great big thank you to all those nature lovers that showed up to invest in our environment's future by planting trees and doing clean-up in the park during our annual Arbor Day event!! This year's tree planting was very successful because of the help and dedication of wonderful people like you. We are happy to share that nearly 300 trees and shrubs were planted and are thriving in the park! Special thanks to Keil Brothers Inc.for donating trees and shrubs to our event. Thanks again to the Natural Resources Group for their donation of trees your contribution made a difference. All together your contributions made Arbor Day 2012 the success that it was!! We look forward to seeing you all here again next year for our 34th annual Arbor Day celebration in 2013!!
Help eradicate invasive plant species like porcelain berry and wild rose from the wetlands of Alley Pond Park! You can help in two ways…
 …join our volunteer crew to help improve the biodiversity in Alley Pond Park. Volunteers will be working in the wetlands on Sat. March 10, 17, & 31 and Sat., April 28.
Join us at 11AM to be part of the crew. Dress for the weather and wear old clothes. Please RSVP. Call for an application. and/or …contribute to the fund set up to provide the necessary equipment needed to do this work. |
NATURE NOTES
National Environmental Educators Week – April 15 – 21
| Increasing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) knowledge and expanding STEM education and career opportunities for students is a national priority. Recognizing the role of the environment as a portal for STEM learning, EE Week's 2012 theme is Greening STEM: The Environment as Inspiration for 21st Century Learning.
Check out their website: http://www.eeweek.org Happy Earth Day – April 22 – everyday is Earth Day here at APEC! Celebrate Endangered Species Day – May 18 - Visit their website at http://endangeredspeciesday.org National Trails Day – June 2 Celebrate World Oceans Day – June 8 - For some ideas on how you can celebrate, visit http://www.worldoceansday.org
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Water Testing at Windmill Pond
Gregory Diliberto, a high school student from United Nations International School, conducted a water testing project about Windmill Pond as an intern this summer. This is part of his research: "Windmill Pond is a pond along the trails of Alley Pond Park. It is full of algae and provides a home for many insects and different kinds of animals.
Many animals have been spotted there, including dragonflies and other flying insects, turtles, many species of birds, including an egret, and even an elusive muskrat. Testing the dissolved oxygen, as well as the pH and air and water temperature for this pond will help give insight into how well this pond can support wildlife, and what kind of wildlife it can support." If you would like to read his entire report, it is available from the Education Department at APEC.
Summer High School Volunteers
Dyan Freiberg, APEC's Volunteer Coordinator, reports that over 40 high school volunteers participated in APEC's volunteer program this summer. The sessions were from 10 am – 1 pm and 1 pm – 4 pm. These volunteers were extremely helpful with the animals, arts and crafts, poster making, picture mounting, assisting with educational programs and helping the Ed Department prepare for the Fall school programs. Thanks go to:
| Julia Anastos | Francesca Bello | Marty Bolger | Amina Carbone |
| Bayard Carmiencke | Clara Chang | Anne Chen | Andrew Chiu |
| Amani Choudhury | Delphina Feige | Milyza Flores | Sal Greco |
| Lisa Greco | Daniel Halpern | Elizabeth Ji | Alexia Komada-John |
| Jennifer Kopp | Jasmine Kyon | Christine Lee | Despina Leontiadis |
| Shirley Lin | Glenn Liu | W. Douglas Lombardi | Maureen MacIntosh |
| Sarah McKendry | Jessica Merkl | Andrew Mitchel | Bryant Moy |
| Lauren Murphy | Anna Rose Petinos | Mary Grace Petinos | Kevin Pierro |
| Alexander Sabatino | Nicholas Scherl | Danielle Shtab | David Singler |
| Kimberly Strempel | Amanda Tenorio | Ciara Tomlinson | Brianna Torres |
| Mehak Thurkal | Alvin Wong | Sarah Wu | Andrew Zheng |
| Kenneth Zheng | Emily Zhou |
Reintroduction of native brook trout to APEC’s fresh water streams
Trout in the Classroom is a national program of Trout Unlimited that aims to reintroduce native freshwater trout to local waterways. A grant from Trout Unlimited provided APEC with equipment, and the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery periodically provides APEC with brook trout eggs for this program.
APEC raises the trout in a tank in our exhibit hall, and our field biology interns release them into fresh water streams on the property. The project incorporates studies of water quality and stream ecology, and education materials for APEC’s visitors. Trout Unlimited is monitoring the results of this effort.
Start-up Funds for an on-going project
Dr. Andrew Kolodny and T.J. Tu present APEC with start-up funds for an on-going project to remove invasive plant species from sections of the wetlands of Alley Pond Park. Represented here by Executive Director Irene V. Scheid, Board President Rita Sherman and Board Members Bill Nieter, Barbara Friedman and Theresa Bonavolonta, Alley Pond Environmental Center is hoping to continue and expand this work in Biodiversity. Additional funds are needed to sustain this undertaking. A crew of volunteers will be assembled and trained to work in the field shortly. Please contact the Center in order to:
Contribute additional funds to this venture
Receive an application to join volunteers to remove invasive plant species in the wetlands of Alley Pond Park
Call APEC at 718-229-4000 if you wish to become involved in this important project.
Reintroduction of native brook trout to APEC’s fresh water streams
Trout in the Classroom is a national program of Trout Unlimited that aims to reintroduce native freshwater trout to local waterways. A grant from Trout Unlimited provided APEC with equipment, and the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery periodically provides APEC with brook trout eggs for this program.
APEC raises the trout in a tank in our exhibit hall, and our field biology interns release them into fresh water streams on the property. The project incorporates studies of water quality and stream ecology, and education materials for APEC’s visitors. Trout Unlimited is monitoring the results of this effort.
Examining the feasibility of introducing native amphibian and aquatic turtle life to APEC’s Windmill Pond
The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation is interested in establishing a native population of amphibians in APEC’s windmill pond. It is first necessary to determine the number and species of turtles living in the pond, because of the presence of red eared sliders, a more aggressive non-native pet species, that is often abandoned in the pond.
The red eared slider population could endanger native turtles like the painted and spotted turtle as well as introduced amphibians. An inventory of the turtle population is being completed by Wild Metro.
Porcelain Berry Removal
Students from the Biology and Geology Department of Queensborough Community College have taken on a Porcelain Berry Removal Project in Alley Pond Park. The students have been coming to APEC to work in teams with Aline Euler, APEC Education Director, to clear trails and free some of the trees from takeover by this non-native, invasive vine. According to the National Park Service, porcelain-berry is a vigorous invader of open and wooded habitats. It grows and spreads quickly in areas with high to moderate light. As it spreads, it climbs over shrubs and other vegetation, shading out native plants and consuming habitat.”
Reestablishing the blue bird population at APEC
The blue bird is a native of New York State, and the state bird. APEC is partnering with four local organizations to attract a new breeding population to the park.
The New York State Blue Bird Society provides APEC with blue bird nesting box kits and advises APEC on habitat needs. A local elementary school, PS 169 Q, helps to assemble the boxes.
The Queens County Bird Club assists APEC with installation of the boxes, and local Eagle Scouts regularly clear and enhance the habitat area.
Inventorying Native and Non-native Plants Along our Trails
Dr. Andrew Greller, a renowned botanist and professor emeritus of the Queens College Department of Biology, along with the Torrey Botanical Society, the Long Island Botanical Society and Alley Pond Environmental Center conduct field trips to survey and record the plants—both native and non-native invasives—in Alley Pond Park and around nearby Oakland Lake. The New York Natural Heritage Program also is involved in plant research in Alley Pond Park. The State program is recording plant biodiversity information in various ecosystems of parks statewide. APEC plans to collate these reports into a comprehensive inventory that will support grant-funded projects for removing the invasives and restoring native habitats in the park. Many visitors and program participants come to APEC to walk the trails, and restoration will provide them with a more authentic experience and a wider understanding of native plant habitats
Enhance Ecological Character Of Wetlands And Improve Access
In spring and fall semesters, faculty and students from service-oriented courses at St. John’s University in Queens work throughout the wetland preserve to improve access for visitors and to enhance the ecological character of the preserve. Efforts include controlling invasive species, building walkways, improving trail and trail-side conditions, encouraging native planting and wildlife, and repairing the scars from years of neglect and development. Pictured here is the 2009 fall planting as part of the NYC Million Trees program, where volunteers planted 1,400 shrubs and saplings along Northern Boulevard.