Boots were on the ground in Riverhead — but not for reasons you might expect — as River and Roots Community Garden workers and volunteers from as far away as Staten Island joined forces to rebuild garden beds with support from a local sheet metal workers union.
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On Thursday, we presented Susan Wilk of Cornell Cooperative Extension with our Public Servant of the Year award at a ceremony at Martha Clara Vineyards. This is the video we screened during the ceremony and the original announcement from January. READ
Standing at the intersection of Main Street and Roanoke Avenue in Riverhead, you’re a short walk from no fewer than three of Susan Wilk’s projects.
A Smithtown artist working through East End Arts’ JumpstART project installed a mixed-media mural at the playground near the River & Roots community garden Monday morning. READ
Six-year-old Summer Realander loves coming to the River and Roots Community Garden with her mother, Kristen. (Credit: Chris Lisinski)
“Mom! Mom! I love this garden!”
That’s what six-year-old Summer Realander shouts to her mother, Kristen Realander, across the River and Roots Community Garden on a sunny Wednesday morning. (more…)
River and Roots Community Garden in downtown Riverhead, located on West Main Street at the end of Griffing Avenue, is now accepting names for the 2013 wait list for community garden plots.
Send your name and contact information to [email protected] or call (631) 591-1810 or (516) 459-9069.
PAUL SQUIRE PHOTO | The new playground at the River and Roots Community Garden in downtown Riverhead.
There may be a new playground at downtown’s River and Roots Community Garden, but the work isn’t done yet. The River and Roots group is now seeking donations to install a fence around the newly-built park.
While the Riverhead Rotary Club has agreed to make a donation for the fence project, River and Roots still needs $1,000 to cover the full cost.
The new playground – the only one in downtown Riverhead — was finished last week and is located next to the garden near Grangebel Park. It includes a slide, seesaw and jungle gym.
The playground cost the town $51,374 to build, according to a contract awarded by the Town Board four months ago. The project is being funded by a Community Development Block Grant, which comes from federal funds, rather than town property taxes.
River and Roots organizer Laurie Nigro wrote in a press release issued Monday that any donation, “large or small, will go far and help us complete the transformation of this little piece of downtown.”
Checks can be made payable to Riverhead Rotary Charities, which is accepting donations on behalf of the garden members, and mailed to River and Roots Community Garden P.O. Box 2129 Riverhead, NY, 11901.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly indicated that the Rotary Club was raising funds for the fence.
PAUL SQUIRE PHOTO | Construction on the new playground at the River and Roots Community Garden began Monday.
Downtown’s River and Roots Community Garden is getting a new addition this week: a playground for local kids.
Installation on the playground – the only one in downtown Riverhead — began Monday morning and is expected to wrap up in the next two to three days, said contractors at the West Main Street site.
The playground will be located next to the garden near Grangebel Park, and will feature a slide, seesaw and jungle gym.
“It’s not going to look like a regular jungle gym,” said foreman Anthony Barbato of Louis Barbato Landscaping. “Everything will be very modern.”
Contractors said they had to pull up a cherry tree on the site that was “no good” and will lay wood chips down around the park to provide a cushion for kids.
The playground will cost $51,374 to build, according to a contract awarded by the Town Board four months ago. The project is being funded by a Community Development Block Grant, which comes from federal funds, rather than town property taxes.