Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor

Save Menantic Creek
To the Editor:
This letter is to the Waterways Advisory Committee, the Town Board and all concerned citizens.

I have enjoyed the use of Menantic Creek since 1988. While I am not a property owner on Menantic, it has long been my privilege and pleasure to kayak, sail, swim and fish in this beautiful body of water.

In the 1980s, Menantic Creek had large mussel beds, loads of clams, oysters and plenty of crabs. Swans bred and schools of fish swirled through its clear waters. Today, the water is murky, shallow and the shellfish and crabs are far and few between.

It has broken my heart to watch as silt has built up in Menantic Creek. And as the silt deposits have grown, the depth has decreased to an extent that it no longer can be used as a safe harbor for ferries during hurricanes as it has been historically.

We are on the cusp losing a valuable waterway.

Let’s not make the mistake of waiting too long to address a problem that is all too evident now.

Otherwise, we will wind up with a creek that is nothing more than one large marsh.
Menantic Creek belongs to all Shelter Island residents — let’s dredge it and preserve its beauty and utility to our community.
TRISH GALLAGHER
Shelter Island

Changing the world
To the Editor:
Thank you to everyone who made the Shelter Island Educational Foundation Grants Celebration truly a celebration.

Thanks to Terry Lucas and Laura Dickerson for opening the doors and setting up the library on a Sunday afternoon; to the standing-room-only crowd of parents, friends and supporters; to Janine Mahoney who gathered all of the student presentations and ran the show; to the 20 enthusiastic and grateful students who shared their adventures, and to our hard-working volunteer members of the board and the Grants Committee.

Thank you to Marie Mazzeo who was there with her son. Ms. Mazzeo was one of the founders of the Ed Foundation in 1995. She said, “Today was the best day of my life.”

Most of all, thank you to our donors who made it all possible. The Shelter Island Educational Foundation awarded $71,000 in grants last year.

As one woman said at the end, “Listening to these kids makes me want to go out and change the world.”
JOANN KIRKLAND
President, Shelter Island Educational Foundation

Thank you all
To the Editor:
Thank you to everyone who stopped by the fire house for Barbara’s Celebration of Life.

Especially to all who made it happen — The Tailgate Crew, the Shelter Island Fire Department, Ladies Auxiliary and anyone else who may have helped.

A very special thank you from Zippy, Robin, Vicki and Jimmy to those who traveled to be with us during such a tragic loss — Patty and Steve Lenox, Ann and Charlie Beckwith, Sharon and Richie Surzenski, Mary and Ron Wilson, Melanie Mitchell, Michelle Beckwith and Beth Cangemi.

Thank you, Gerry Siller, for donating the red maple tree and planting it in memory of Barbara at the Heights firehouse. To all who sent cards, donated to St. Jude’s in her memory, called and kept us in your thoughts and prayers — thank you.

Shelter Island is a very special place with so many special people. Barbara loved, and was loved, by so many.
ROBIN GOETZ
Shelter Island