A Day of Love for Caleb Smith Preserve

By Carole Paquette

A Day of Love for Caleb Smith Preserve

 Hurricane Sandy destroyed approximately 300 trees at Caleb Smith State Park Preserve in Smithtown last fall. Vanessa, Barbara and Alex Tutaj of Smithtown prepare to plant a maple tree at the Preserve.On Saturday, May 4, more than sixty families and students worked to help restore sections of the park to its natural beauty during the state-sponsored I Love My Parks Day. Members of local families planted fifty new sugar maple trees, New York’s official state tree. Twenty-six Hauppauge High School seniors, and  approximately fifteen Boy Scouts from Troop #349 under the direction of Dave Ryder, spent the day mulching the park’s hiking trails. 

Other activities included planting flowers around the preserve’s flagpole. MembersA young gardener plants sunflower seeds. of the Friends of Caleb Smith Preserve organized a custom walking-stick workshop for adults, a family nature walk, and a table where children planted sunflower seeds in peat pots to take home.

This was the Second Annual I Love My Parks Day to be held at the Preserve. The program was initiated by Parks and Trails of New York ( HYPERLINK “http://www.ptny.org” www.ptny.org). “This group has done a lot to revitalize our state parks,” said Joanne D’Agostino, secretary of the Friends of Caleb Smith Preserve.