As part of a larger program, the Huntington Rotary has been coordinating a 3-part forum at Town Hall, “How to Improve and Protect Our Marine Ecosystem” featuring Aquaculture Experts at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County.
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This will be an evening of networking, light refreshments and music, focused on celebrating health and humans services professionals. We will also offer a taste of the healing power of art. It will be held at The Firefly Artists Gallery in the beautiful historic village of Northport, home of the Engeman Theater, excellent restaurants, lovely shops and a gorgeous park and harbor.
The shops mostly close around 6pm but a few of us, like our neighbors at Artisan House, like to stay open.
From 2009-2014, Dr. Reynolds served as Executive Director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD), an organization that provides substance abuse screenings, brief interventions and referrals to addiction treatment, as well as professionally-facilitated family interventions and anger management services to adults and adolescents. Under Dr. Reynolds’ leadership, LICADD pioneered evidence-based K-12 substance abuse prevention programs in several Long Island schools, initiated a new mentoring program for children of incarcerated parents and expanded LICADD’s Employee Assistance Program. During his tenure, LICADD’s revenues tripled, and the number of families served per month increased nine-fold.
Prior to joining LICADD, Dr. Reynolds worked for the Long Island Association for AIDS Care for 19 years, where he started out doing case management and finished his tenure as Vice President for Public Affairs, responsible for government relations, resource development, strategic marketing, and communications. In 1997, he co-founded BiasHELP of Long Island, an organization dedicated to assisting victims of hate crimes and their families. As BiasHELP’s Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Reynolds secured federal, state and local grants and launched a wide array of crime victim assistance services and school-based violence prevention
programs.
Dr. Reynolds currently serves on New York’s Heroin and Opioid Task Force, the Executive Committee of the Nassau County Heroin Prevention Task Force, Suffolk County’s Heroin/Opiate Epidemic Advisory Panel, the board of the New York State Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, Nassau’s Family Violence Task Force, Suffolk County’s Welfare-to-Work Commission and he co-chairs the Huntington Town Opioid Task Force. He serves as a board member and treasurer of Lightning Warriors, a youth
triathlon team, and serves on the board of the Long Island Association (LIA).
Dr. Reynolds is Vice Chair and remains the longest serving member of the NYS AIDS Advisory Council, first appointed by the NYS Senate Majority Leader in 1994 and reappointed five times since then. Dr. Reynolds has also served on the NYS Governor’s Recreational Marijuana Task Force, been chair of Nassau County’s Youth Board, co-chaired Nassau County Comptroller’s Non-Profit Steering Committee and served on the transition teams for County Executives Laura Curran (D) and Bruce Blakeman (R).
Dr. Reynolds has served as a consultant and grant reviewer for the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and is a frequent presenter and keynote speaker at statewide and national health and human service conferences. He has authored more than 250 news and op-ed articles that have appeared in a wide variety of publications and is consistently used as an expert source for substance use, addiction, HIV/AIDS and human/civil rights information by local and national radio, television, online and print outlets. Dr. Reynolds has received numerous awards for his community service and leadership and was named one of the “most influential Long Islanders” each year 2010-2022 by the Long Island Press. Dr. Reynolds has received leadership awards and honors from the Simple Hope Foundation, Caron Treatment Centers, Strong Youth, Inc., the Long Island Recovery Association, Mainstream House, LICADD, Long Island Business News (Long Island Business Hall of Fame, 2021) and Herald Newspapers (Top Business Leaders in Nassau County, 2021). Dr. Reynolds is also a graduate of Energeia, a regional stewardship program spearheaded by Molloy College. In 2022, he received a Long Island Excellence in Healthcare Award from Herald Newspapers and a “Hero of Hope” award from CN Guidance and Counseling Services.
Dr. Reynolds holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Dowling College (1988), a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) with a specialization in health administration from Long Island University (1997) and a doctorate from Stony Brook University’s School of Social Welfare (2007). Dr. Reynolds’ doctoral dissertation was on “Using the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change to Explore Substance Use Patterns and HIV Risk Behaviors in a Suburban Sample.” He has been a Certified Employee Assistance Professional since 2011.
A lifelong Long Islander and cancer survivor, Dr. Reynolds is an avid marathon runner having completed 15 marathons and is also an Ironman triathlete, a passion he’s used to raise much-needed funds for FCA, LICADD, United Way of Long Island and other local/national charities.”
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Basically, we’re lucky to have this guy.
Grand Openings of Wonderful Things! Photo by Myriam Zilles on Unsplash
Above is a photo of my Life Scout son, Max and my dear friend Jean Henning on the grounds of the Nassau County Museum of Art. They’re considering how they might craft an Eagle Scout Project that provides a gateway to a larger grasslands restoration endeavor. A primary objective will be to educate visitors about the local ecosystem, sustainable landscaping, and the need to address damage already completely out of hand.
It is a HUGE delight to me that, somehow, I don’t think I ever thought of the Museum as we brainstormed potential projects. Max remembered it himself from childhood and found Jean’s email address on the website. I am thrilled that for Jean the timing happens to be perfect. It is wonderful to witness them consulting. My job remains to hold myself back and just watch them work.
It is not easy! I am glad I get to help a little and am consoling myself by happily getting to tell the story.
When I first met Jean in 2008 she was both the former Museum Educator and the Senior Museum Educator of the Nassau County Museum of Art. She told me this meant she was actually slowly retiring. Together with Patricia Lannes, they were guiding school children, general visitors, docents and others through incredible arrays of exhibitions.
In addition to art, art history and cultural understanding, they were developing observation, discourse and diverse “21st Century Learning Skills” with visiting school children from all over Long Island. They taught me a great deal about the value of BOCES as a vehicle for their deeply enriching school field trips, and cutting edge thought in teaching and learning. A primary focus involved groundbreaking programs using art as a vehicle to English Language Literacy. There was much more. She was always good for an interesting conversation! Among her favorite topics were the grounds themselves.
Jean assures me she is still slowly retiring, “Honestly, I hardly even go into the building anymore. I thought I’d miss teaching in the galleries but, while I really loved it, I find I have other things to do now.”
The Museum has been an independent 501(c)3 not-for-profit since 1989. It occupies a late 19th century neo‐Georgian mansion on 144 acres in Roslyn Harbor. The property’s first owner was poet and longtime NY Evening Post Editor William Cullen Bryant. The mansion was built by US Representative Lloyd Stephens Bryce. It was all later purchased by US Steel Corporation Founder Henry Clay Frick, though it was his son, Childs Frick, a well-known paleontologist and naturalist who actually owned it.
The grounds include multiple structures and formal gardens originally designed in the 1920s by Marian Cruger Coffin. She was one of America’s leading landscape architects. The rest involve relatively large parcels of relatively untouched lands that back up to Cedarmere Preserve. There are fields and forests, including a pinetum with over 100 rare species of conifer. There are ravines and ponds. All of it contains diverse plant and wildlife species.
“Honestly, it’s now a catalogue of invasive species.” Jean notes with a grim look as she guides us on a survey of potential sites. We discuss the bigger picture and note relevant details as Max takes it all in.
She leads us down a path that is much wider than I remember.
“COVID” she says, seeing my expression, “SO many people came here walking. I hope they keep it up. They created some really great paths. It’s actually helping us get inside and see what’s going on.”
She navigates under a large fallen tree noting that it’s, “good exercise for people, especially someone my age.” As we go along, she shares resources she’s gathered and what she’s learned since she really got to focus on this.
Jean reflects that while the problems associated with invasive species have been developing under our noses for decades, solving them is something of a new field. Dealing with it all is a process of debate and experimentation. So far, there’s been a lot of mowing and letting-growing. She’s long been determined to minimize the use of poisons, but also knows many are recommending thoughtful applications. She considers that a bit as she eyes some of the more intractably infested areas.
A main focus has been the pretty poison that is Porcelain Berry. English Ivy, and Multiflora Rose run amuck. As she points her plant app at species she’s unsure of, some results make her smile. Others furrow her brow.
She makes it clear that if the gateway garden Max plants could actively replace invasive species, that would be wonderful. Max responds that weeding would be considered more of a Service Project than an Eagle one, but he agrees with the need and will see what he can do.
We discuss wonderful volunteers. She lights up and tells me she’s learned something heartening from a biologist she’s been consulting:
“He tells me that in the ground are living seeds representing a record of 100 years.” She explains further about this wonderful news: The Earth is a living seed bank, especially in these undisturbed lands. If the now smothering invasives are removed, diverse native species, rare ones even, may spring up as payout.
Jean points out spots where she’s witnessing a reemergence already, delighting at ferns with slowly unrolling fronds. Pulling out her phone again, she recommences indentifying things along the edges of land they’ve been reclaiming.
As she finishes the tour, Max offers a few of his evolving thoughts. He explains a bit about his project application process, and how he’ll next consult with the Scout Master and Eagle Coach. He tells her a main purpose of the project is not just to build something for the community, but to exhibit leadership, project management and community connection. He notes there are other scouts who have been intrigued by his ideas. They brainstorm a few options…
It’s going to be fun to see where this goes.
For more information on sustainable landscaping, check out our full list of Native Garden and Ecolandscaping Resources. We look forward to adding information on the Museum’s projects and others we’ve come across soon!
Thank you for making us the 2022 Best Art Gallery on Long Island!
We’re located at 162 Main Street, in beautiful downtown Northport. In this installment please find:
– Exquisite Local Art for Sale by our Fireflies
– Special Exhibitions: “Honey I Shrunk the Art!” and “Reflections”
– Call to Artists: BIG INK
– Classes: Nuno Felting, Acting, Calligraffiti, Jewelry Making, Illustration
– 3-day Workshop with Watercolor Master Fabio Cembranelli
– Featured Guest: LI’s Best
– Featured Firefly: Michelle Schroeder
Clockwise from top: a hopeful illustration from Firefly Helen Murdock-Prep, a beautiful pieced-together mirror by Firefly Rebecca Bahr, The Northport Dock by Firefly Jo-Ann Corretti, bicycle by Firefly Steve Caputo. Below: a tranquil sailboat by Firefly Kirk Larsen, mermaid by Firefly Darnel Tasker.
Our Fireflies work like busy bees to create, to teach, to make life sweet! Come find that perfect thing to brighten your world or someone else’s.
Artists from throughout the region have sent us a treasure trove of tiny delights. Catch them before they leave!
Artwork by Dan Welden
All works are for sale. Additional pieces may be found at The Omni Gallery, 333 Earl Ovington Blvd, Uniondale from April 25 to August 27, with a reception August 7 at 7:30pm.
*Please Note:There is no handicapped access to our Darcy Arts Center as it is located on the second floor of the historic building that houses our gallery.
It’s a great time!
Felting is a user-friendly technique that is simple to learn and create with. Popular projects include decorative pillows, quilts and jewelry. Here, Firefly Oksana Danziger will teach the technique, leading you to bring home a beautiful felted flower!
Oksana is a Russian of Ukrainian descent who cares deeply about the the ongoing war. She tells us she will donate all proceeds from this next class to benefit the Kharkiv Regional Charitable Foundation “Conference of St. Vincent de Paul, which is now dedicated to evacuating refugees from the war zone and collecting humanitarian supplies.
Come join Firefly Artist and Theater Educator Helen Murdock-Prep for lots of fun exploring the wonderful world of acting in this workshop featuring Improv, Monologues and Scenes.
When: Tuesday, June 7th; 6:30p-8:30pm
Course Fee: $50
To register, please email Helen at hmurdock@optonline.net
Learn to hammer a short quote, song lyric, or special name onto metal. Fee includes all materials and tool usage.
A great place to begin metalsmithing! Design and create a pendant or earrings in copper or brass. Cut shapes from sheet metal with a jeweler’s saw. Add texture, patina, and/or metal stamp patterns. Professionally finish your work to be comfortably worn. Fee includes all metal sheet, wire, and findings are included as is tool usage. Note: There are no torches in this class. However, it is a prerequisite for any future soldering or stone setting classes.
Award winning artist and illustrator Renée Reichert is known for lush velvety pastels which often take on both a narrative and a fantasy quality. Her work has been exhibited in The Society of Illustrator’s Annual Exhibition, Spectrum 8: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art and can be seen in numerous private collections. She is the illustrator of the children’s picture books This is the Wind and The Cat Came Back.
They give us high hopes for the future!
Photo provided by Firefly Michelle Schroeder: “Healing happening—-one day at a time”
Among treasures in our gallery are works of Firefly Michelle Schroeder. She’s the one who makes those AMAZING handbags out of old LP record albums. She also happens to be central to the community of art teachers that stretches across NY State, including some very special connections with our own robust community here at and around our nurturing gallery.
Michelle is a wonderful person who can often be found rallying good energy for some important cause. While very near to our hearts, unlike the rest of our Fireflies, she is not so local to Long Island.
Actually, Michelle is a High School Art Teacher in Buffalo. Like so many, she is reeling herself right now, but even moreso giving it her best to share information, to help those in need, and to provide her deeply shaken students healing, one day at a time.
We wish she didn’t have to do it, but we are grateful that she does. We love you, Michelle.
Over the past decade, The Firefly Artists has had the great privilege of displaying a stunning variety of work by hundreds of Long Island artists through our Main Street locations and pop-up galleries in the community. We boast some extraordinary talent, while maintaining a very down to earth and supportive atmosphere that is unique to Long Island.
We were established in 2011 to create a gallery setting for local artists. The goal was to create a space where artists could meet, collaborate, and sell their beautiful creations.
In 2020 we expanded our gallery by creating the Darcy Arts Center on the second floor of our building. This beautiful gallery space is rich in natural light and dedicated to special exhibitions and art workshops featuring world renowned instructors.We are eager to continue to be an outlet for local artists, offering a place to create, grow and connect to customers.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and check our website for all the latest updates!
Thank you for your support!
This will be an evening of networking, light refreshments and good fun. It will be held at The Firefly Artists Gallery in the beautiful historic village of Northport, home of the Engeman Theater, excellent restaurants, lovely shops and a gorgeous park and harbor.
The shops mostly close around 6pm but a few of us, like our neighbors at Artisan House, like to stay open.
Here, we will celebrate community and make good connections with a special focus on our friend Lionel Chitty.
Lionel is now the Executive Director of the Nassau County Office of Minority Affairs and, by the way, just found out he’s also about to receive a much cooler honor than this. Stay tuned!!!
When I met Lionel, He lived out east, worked out west and was deeply involved in the Hicksville Chamber of Commerce. I met him through Vision Long Island, who reaches out to and builds community with local business folk across Long Island.
One of the very first things Lionel Chitty ever told me was that he was about to prepare me to never forget his name.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Go for it,” I chuckled dubiously.
“Lionel Richie.
Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang.”
…and that sums up a good little bit of what I love about this guy.
Vision may have been where Lionel met Lois, whom I just call “The Queen of Freeport” to keep things simple. She’s a wonderful local travel agent who was involved with the Chamber…and the Arts Council…and a few other things here and there…She perhaps got most deeply involved with Vision as a champion of the “Friends of Freeport,” a community organization that, a decade later, is still gathering neighbors to assist neighbors in recovering from Superstorm Sandy.
We’re looking forward to this being a first of many lovely evenings bringing people together at a beautiful place in the name of human connection.
Hope you can pop in! Please RSVP ASAP as space is limited. Have a wonderful day!
Northport Native Garden Initiative Co-Founders at their second annual Native Plant Sale. From Left: Nicole Tamaro, Matt Gorman and Sara Abbass.
Photo Credit: Meghan Fisk
I met Sara Abbass when she came into The Firefly Artists one day in early 2021. She was walking around the Village of Northport sharing a cool fundraiser for the Ocean Ave Elementary School PTA. The endeavor was designed to also support local businesses, and to be a booster for the masks that were helping us all get to be a little more human again.
We soon started brainstorming children’s art classes. Somehow, we got onto plants. She then shared a really cool idea of an organization she’d helped start with some friends that seemed to set a fire behind her eyes: The Northport Native Garden Initiative (NNGI).
The next time I saw her, Drigo Morin and I were at the monthly Northport Village Board meeting to inquire about Plein Air. She and Trustees were excited about a demonstration garden of native plants that they were installing at Village Hall, right there on Main Street.
Now. Wow. The first thing I see when I come to get my plants and help out at the 2nd Annual NNGI Spring Plant Sale is a table in the driveway manned by kids and a sweet black dog. They’re selling lemonade, cookies and other treats to raise money for Grateful Greys an organization that serves Greyhounds. They tell me they have a $300 goal and are pleased to report that they’ve already earned well over $200.
Around back is a yard full of plant orders, several tables filled with specimens not yet spoken for, and a bunch of busy bee volunteers helping folks find what they are seeking.
“This is nothing,” one tells me, “Before, the whole yard was filled. It’s so much bigger than last year!”
Nicole Tamaro, another co-founder, provides a quick rundown of a nicely organized setup. She then directs us to wagons, and leads us to find our own orders. We laugh at the irony that the Iron Weed will be late because the spring has been so cool, but today is more like muggy July.
Mostly, though, conversation swirls about the large variety of plants they are fetching and brainstorming with neighbors as they guide them in placement and care. Honeysuckle and certain ferns are in short supply – everywhere. They ponder solutions and earnestly brainstorm other options.
“We are so happy people have been so receptive and that this is taking off,” says Sara when she finally has a moment to recognize me and chat. She laughs at how tired she is. This exceptionally multitasking mother usually does manage to get her sleep, which is wonderful, thank you, but last night they came home exhausted and exhilarated. They finally crashed and then sprung up to do it all over again!
She doesn’t look tired, though. None of them do. They’re having a good time and thrilled that their efforts to help folks make more thoughtful landscaping choices seems to be making a difference.
“Until you know, you don’t know,” says Sara, “and you can’t learn unless there are folks willing to teach.” She looks at me, “That’s why we’re so committed to offering lectures ourselves, and to bringing in outside speakers so we all can learn more.”
In addition to serving neighbors yards, they’ve also raised and matched funds to seed oysters that will help filter the water in Northport Harbor. The truth is, we live on a densely populated island of many harbors and depend on our groundwater. How we live impacts all of that for generations, and there’s already great damage to repair. It’s a lot to deal with, and it’s nice to know there’s something folks can do that makes a difference, one yard at a time: Ecologically supportive landscaping.
As Sara and others offer guidance to customers regarding their selections, another co-founder named Matt Gorman offers an informative tour of his own increasingly diverse native gardens. He shows me native Blueberries and Joe Pye Weed, Goldenrod and New England asters.
“The Chokeberry is aptly named,” he says, pointing to a plant with beautiful clusters of white blossoms.
“Oh, yeah?” I say, “Is it toxic?”
“No, but if you eat them when they first ripen they will really pucker your mouth.” His eyes gleam, “You can make good jam out of them, though.” He explains they’re actually considered a “superfood” with nearly twice as many antioxidants as blueberries.
He indicates native honeysuckle and clematis vining around the gazebo, talking about how the slightly different conditions on either side of the structure impact growth. Then, he shows me one of his favorite elements: Little birdhouses filled with bamboo that mason bees are busily entering and exiting.
“We got these guys as cocoons,” he smiles. The Initiative has a workshop they ran with Blossom Meadow Farm about these important pollinators on their website. There’s also a 101 on native gardening. Once they get through the sale, they’ll upload more.
“I loving hanging out with my bees,” I say, “but I’m surprised you have them right here on the gazebo.”
“They won’t hurt anyone,” he answers, “The males don’t even have stingers. The females….you basically have to squeeze them to get them to sting you. They’ve got better things to do than bother us.”
He is a fount of information and clearly totally jazzed about his plants. “How’d you get into this?” I ask.
“It all started with some Butterfly Milkweed I got. I noticed how many pollinators it attracted and I just started thinking…what else could I add? I started researching, and bringing things in…pretty soon I had a lot of native plants and SO much wildlife in my yard. Birds, bees, butterflies, more…it’s really cool.”
I marvel at one particularly large order in the yard. It’s going to a client’s home in Asharoken for, in addition to the non-profit, Sara has now founded Sara Mairéad Landscape Design, Inc.
“It is so much fun to design for different areas,” she says, “Full sun is easy. I like hard to plant spots and hard to find plants.”
“Woodlands may be my favorite,” she continues, “I love taking areas where people say, ‘I can’t do anything with this’ and creating something special.”
“I love naming them, too. ‘Woodland Oasis…” you can see she might start to daydream, but she quickly turns earnest, “I try to bring it all to a different level, to create a really good feeling for clients…one that gets them excited and invested, too.”
Although they are very locally focused on their Northport community, the NNGI is also totally jazzed about the partners they have found to jam with in their endeavors. They mention Kimberly of KMS Plants, who supplies much of their inventory, as well as others they have befriended. In addition to a very active Facebook page the group is really happy about their new website, which empowers them to host all sorts of information.
“You know what I think is the coolest thing about that?” asks Nicole, “We’ve now got an interactive map where people can add themselves and tell us how many native plants they have.”
“Why do you love it?” I ask
“Because it shows people how involved others are becoming in this, and how even one yard can make an impact. It connects our community through native plants.”
While gardens are often places of delicious solitude, they are also community touchstones. You can see it in the friendships here and on their map. It is evident in the folks they are connecting with and amplifying island- and even nation-wide. You can find it right here in their conversations with neighbors seeking guidance, who are talking to each other as much as to the busily working friends, family and volunteers.
It is clearly evident that they are totally jazzed, and making their deepest difference one yard, one plant, one person at a time.
It’s really cool. Check ‘em out.
For more information on sustainable landscaping, check out our full list of Native Garden and Ecolandscaping Resources, It has just been updated to now also include contact information for Sara Mairéad Landscape Design, Inc.
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” ~Google tells me this quote is attributed to Nelson Henderson but to me it belongs to Ken Christensen, who spoke those words often and took them deeply to heart.
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The Moonjumpers have partnered with Six Harbors Brewery on a new craft beer, The label, shown above, was designed by Emma DeDora. She’s a cousin of Six Harbors Co-Owner Karen Heuwetter. Featured among the dogs is Moonjumper Co-Founder Rob Benson’s dear friend Cliff, who is himself a rescue from the Little Shelter.
A driving idea, from the very founding of the Moonjumpers Charitable Foundation is that a good time becomes a great time when people come together to help others. For more than ten years now, the Moonjumpers have served “children, families, war veterans and charitable and not-for-profit organizations through financial assistance and the purchase of products or equipment so as to aid in creating a better quality of life for those in need.”
Their merry endeavor includes a theme song, a dog named Cliff, and a passion for good fellowship and community partnerships. They tend to have a really good time even when they’re simply offering a financial donation or providing a direct service, such as rolling up their sleeves to help associates serve veterans or spearheading a coat drive to support the community served by a local youth organization.
They like it best, though, when they can really make a party of it. It’s been tough these last few years, but they are on it and hope you will join them in a really cool partnership with Six Harbors Brewing Company:
Both events will be held at Six Harbors Brewing Company, 243 New York Avenue, Huntington
Fun Stuff!!!
