Warwick welcomes spring
WARWICK Dig it. Shred it. Clean it up and bag it.
April brings warmer weather, Earth Day and, in Warwick, Operation Clean Sweep. In the coming days and weeks, there will be numerous events and programs that highlight the environment as well as the community spirit found so often in large and small ways within the residents who call Warwick home.
Those events range from community gardens to shredding paper, from a composting fair to a town wide effort to make homes and businesses more energy efficient. Heres a rundown on some of the upcoming programs:
Lake Community Garden kicks off new season
GREENWOOD LAKE Preparations for the Greenwood Lake Community Gardens second season have begun. A limited number of raised individual planting beds at the fenced site are still available at $25 for the season. The garden is located in Greenwood Lake Park on Windermere Avenue near the post office in the Village of Greenwood Lake.
Planting of beds is tentatively scheduled Saturday, May 5. Water tanks will be available at the garden, and rainwater collection is being explored.
For information or to reserve, call village hall at 845-477-9215.
Town re-launches Energize Warwick Program
WARWICK Supervisor Michael Sweeton has announced that the Energize Warwick Program will be re-launched as part of the Earth Day activities in the town.
This program is a contest to encourage homeowners and businesses to conduct energy audits as well as energy efficient upgrades to their buildings.
Once you enter the contest you can assign points for these improvements to a not-for-profit of your choice within the town.
Whichever not-for-profit earns the most points will receive a cash prize of $10,000 from WVT Communications.
Information on how to participate is online at www.Townofwarwick.org. Residents also may call Sweetons office at 986-1120 ext. 241.
Sustainable Warwick to host Compost Fair on Earth Day
WARWICK On Earth Day, Sunday April 22, local residents will have the opportunity to get down to earth – specifically the nitty-gritty of composting – when Sustainable Warwick presents its free Compost Fair at the Warwick Valley Community Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
A wide range of activities for gardeners, families and anyone interested in promoting composting will be offered. Among them are:
One of the highlights will be the film Fresh, the underground documentary that became a massive grass roots success. In addition to being highly entertaining, Fresh is the embodiment of the good food movement.
Mayor Michael Newhard and the new head of the Village DPW, Kirk Williams, will be on hand to announce the new municipal composting initiative that the Village has undertaken which will soon make high-quality compost available to all.
Representatives from the Cornell Cooperative Extension Service and local experts Gar Wang and Dave Washburn will offer advice on what to compost, various composting methods, and setting up a problem-free composting system. There will also be a demonstration of vermiculture – composting with the help of red wriggler worms.
And if so much gardening information makes people hungry, Elke Noll of The Healthy Gourmet will be whipping up her green smoothies.
Finally, students from Warwick High School will be offering a dramatic tribute to last years critically needed Warwick Farm Aid program that raised over $100,000 in the wake of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. This tribute recently took third place in a national competition.
Composting is an easy, effective, money-saving approach, perfect for widespread home use. At the Fair, 50 local residents will be picking up Earth Machine composters that they purchased through a discounted Sustainable Warwick program and then starting their own home composting program.
Greater Hudson Bank helps customers shred confidential papers
WARWICK Greater Hudson Bank, in partnership with SK Paper Shred, will host a paper shredding event on Saturday, April 21, from 9 a.m. to noon; the money raised from this effort will benefit the Warwick Valley Human Society.
The cost on April 21 for one box containing documents ready for shredding will be $6; those who pre-pay prior to April 20 will receive $1 discount for legal and letter sized documents.
Greater Hudson Bank knows the benefit of shredding confidential documents, bank officials said in the press release announcing the event. Customers also know the value of properly destroying documents but usually lack the time to perform the chore as papers pile up. With spring now here – theres no better time than the present! To aid all parties involved Greater Hudson Bank and SK Paper Shred will be providing the resource to the entire public with the goal of benefiting the Warwick Valley Humane Society.
The Warwick branch of the Greater Hudson Bank is located at Mitchel Corners Shopping Plaza, 25 Elm St.
For more information, call Warwick branch manager Susan Ronga at 845-987-7400.
Operation Clean Sweep scheduled for April 27-29
WARWICK The Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerces annual roadside cleanup throughout the entire town of Warwick is scheduled for Friday through Sunday, April 27 through 29.
Among the activities are: Various groups, clubs and individuals can take part by pre-registering their routes in order to ensure garbage pickup by the Department of Public Works (note that this is for roadside refuse, not homeowner garbage). Call 845-986-2720 to register your road in advance, or come in person on Saturday, April 28, from 8 a.m. to noon to the Caboose at South Street to register your road. Garbage bags and gloves will be available to anyone who registers and can be picked up at any time.
Kevin Brand from The Computer Guy will be collecting electronic equipment for recycling at his business location, 14 West St., between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Warwick Valley Coalition will sponsor an Unused Prescription Pill Drop Off in conjunction between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
And for the third year in a row, the Warwick Lions Club will host a shredding truck at the Caboose on Saturday, April 28, between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Operation Clean Sweep is coordinated by School Superintendent Dr. Raymond Bryant; the chambers executive director, Michael Johndrow; and Warwick Valley High School student Heather Storms.