Around the Island

Mashomack hosts 8th graders and Timothy Hill volunteers

CINDY BELT PHOTO | Izzy Sherman, Lucia Mulligan, Sarah Lewis, Wesley Congdon and Jack Lang examine the ice still on a boulder at Mashomack’s Rocky Point.
CINDY BELT PHOTO | Izzy Sherman, Lucia Mulligan, Sarah Lewis, Wesley Congdon and Jack Lang examine the ice still on a boulder at Mashomack’s Rocky Point.

Shelter Island School’s Earth Science students bundled up against the cold weather and spent the day outdoors at Mashomack on Friday, March 14. The program is part of the Mashomack Preserve/Shelter Island School partnership, “No Child Left Inside.”

The 8th graders reviewed map and chart reading skills and learned to use a compass to find a “pregnant tree” and large glacial erratic (otherwise known as a very large rock) deep in the woods and off the trails. They also took three hikes along Gardiner’s Bay, exploring the beach, rocks and minerals from Sungic to Rocky Points, while taking part in a live-action demonstration of how glaciers formed on Long Island.

The kids were tired and cold by the end of the day but quite enthusiastic about the experience. Teachers Sharon Gibbs and Janine Mahoney concurred.

Mashomack also hosted a crew of 10 volunteers from the Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch in Riverhead, who helped clean up the Preserve on Saturday, March 22.

After last year’s growing season and a long, hard winter, Mashomack’s parking area and Visitor Center access road needed some tender loving care. The young men worked hard, cutting the encroaching vegetation and raking gravel back from where plows had deposited it on the lawn. Three and a half hours later, truckloads of underbrush were removed and the area is looking better than it has in years. Thanks, Timothy Hill!