SUMMER 2006
Busy Summer Season for Surfrider Eastern LI Chapter
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The Eastern Long Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is capping off it's summer 2006 activities by participating in the National Paddle for Clean Water on Saturday, September 9. Our paddle will take place at Ditch Plains Beach in Montauk. We will gather at 9:00 a.m. and paddle out at 10:00 a.m. The National Paddle for Clean Water is done in an effort to bring attention to the ongoing degradation of our coasts and oceans. It allows people the opportunity to rally at their favorite beach and paddle out to form a circle of solidarity to address their concerns and voice their opinions regarding the state of our coasts and oceans.
Our chapter invites all it's members and their friends to come to Ditch Plains on Saturday, September 9 and paddle with us to raise awareness about the current state of our coasts and oceans, and advocate for changes that will help preserve these natural treasures.
The summer has been a busy one for our chapter. We continue to work for legal surfing access at Montauk Point State Park, as well as the protection of the waves at the point that are in jeopardy because of Army Corps of Engineer's proposed revetment project which unfortunately received an ok from the State Senate. We are rallying our Congressman, Tim Bishop, to vote against the building of a larger rock wall at the point, and for the corps to come up with a less destructive, more environmentally friendly solution to the erosion problems at The Montauk Point Lighthouse.
The chapter also continues to work with the Town of East Hampton in the protection of Turtle Cove against the annual onslaught of motor vehicle traffic that comes with the fall fishing and hurricane season. We have had productive meetings with town officials and hope that they will follow the Plan of Utilization approved by the Federal Parks Department regarding the management and use of this precious, fragile piece of land.
Our chapter went on record supporting the Town of East Hampton's new proposed coastal legislation, which regards the beaches as one of our most valuable resources. Our chapter has made some suggestions on how to strengthen this legislation, and has asked all of the Town Board members to move for its adoption.
Our 2006 summer benefit, Surf Movie Night IV, was a huge success again this year thanks to the hard work of all of our volunteers, our sponsors OP and Hint Water, and the band The Bastards of Boom who entertained the standing room only crowd again this year.
Our chapter was invited to give Respect the Beach presentations to the students at the Quiksilver Surf Camp, run by Montauk members Tommy Zung and Sian Gordon. We thank them for having us out to talk with their students about the mission of the Surfrider Foundation and on what the young surfing students can do to keep the beaches and waters clean. We are looking forward to getting out to more of the local schools this fall with our growing Respect the Beach program!
Thanks again for all of your support at all of our events this summer. Watch for info about our fall membership meeting coming up soon. The membership drive is still on. Please invite your friends and families to become members. Hope to see you all at the Paddle on September 9 !
Tom