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2020 Arrives for Roosevelt Island Garden Club

1/26/2020

Your 2020 RIGC Executive Board met for their first meeting on Tuesday, January 21st with a full quorum and two new members. Our 2020 Secretary ,Robert Ostergaard, has created a great new online registration packet for everyone!

Find your email and start by reviewing the RIGC Rules & Regulations and the RIGC By-Laws. Then click on the registration button and simply fill in all the blanks. Your final registration step is to write a check, place it in an envelope with a stamp, and mail it to: Roosevelt Island Garden Club Attn: Treasurer . P.O. BOX 127 . New York, NY 10044

All registration materials are due by February 29th! As you write your registration check, consider adding a tax-free donation. Your donation will go toward projects such as border replacement, improving disabled gardeners’ access to plots, landscape enhancements, and managing unexpected needs.

Meanwhile in the garden, mild temperatures made for beautiful weather in late January and there is no better way to celebrate a new year than by sifting new compost. The communal compost piles have been heating up well all during this winter season and some compost is now ready to be sifted. Anthony, Jenna, Aiesha, Akylbai, Julia, and Jérôme were all out recently sifting and chatting.

Welcome to the new 2020 RIGC year! Stop by the composting area this spring to speak with Anthony Longo or another compost committee member and find out more! "At RIGC, what comes from the ground, returns to the ground." Doesn't our logo say something about that idea, too? "In Earth We Trust!"

2020 Mulchfest Extravaganza with RIGC

1/4/2020

Have you ever wondered what really happens to the holiday trees you ask the maintenance to take out of your apartment? Well, New York city has a program called Mulchfest and you can take your tree to a chipping day or a drop off site across the boroughs in early to mid-January. In Manhattan the city picks up the trees left on the street on certain days. These trees are chipped and used for mulch to feed city tree beds and also parks and also to create NYC Compost.

This year RIGC member Anthony Longo continued a longstanding practice of picking up all the Roosevelt Island tree sale trimmings and composting them in our garden bins. This has been happening for at least 5 years. In addition, Julia Ferguson and Jerome Dutilloy took this RIGC dream a step further and picked up 27 trees from neighbors and building staff around the Island. On Saturday, January 4th, they transported these organic resources to the Astoria Park Mulchfest Chipping Site and saw them all mulched for NYC parks! Trees in landfills turn to greenhouse gasses, but chipped trees are returned to feed the soil and close the natural loop making for almost zero waste in a natural cycle created by the earth!

RIGC members are actively working to connect with RIOC and plan for 2021. Maybe we can get a drop off site or a chipping day on the Island for more convenience.

Honoring Geof Kerr for his Service as RIGC Treasurer

12/19/2019

On December 19th, several RIGC members were able to present Geof Kerr with a beautiful framed painting of the gardens by RIGC member artist Peggy Roalf. Geof has been our well-beloved and amazing treasurer for the past 5 years. Geof helped us to get our 501c3 status and worked to arrange for a mini-audit or compilation of our books a few years ago. Geof quietly and professionally handled our taxes and insurance annually. By guiding and advising the Board, he has carefully built up a very steady practice of RIGC book keeping, budgeting, and reserve building for this group to become the healthy volunteer non-profit organization that it is today.

This year Geof Kerr decided to retire from the RIGC Treasurer position and also to give up his plot and become a Legacy Gardener Associate. The Board wanted to present him with a gift as a symbol of our appreciation and was able to find this December date for the small gathering at Island House. Geof will be sorely missed, but we look forward to seeing him on his bike and in the gardens!

2019: A Long Season of Free Garden Classes at RIGC (4th-8th Graders)

11/17/2019

Thanks to Laura, a new RIGC Associate, we were able to offer free gardening experiences for 4th to 8th graders almost every Sunday afternoon from June through mid-November. The older elementary and middle school students live on Roosevelt Island and have parents on the RIGC waitlist. They are interested in being outdoors and learning by doing. We started with 4-6 students regularly until it became colder and numbers changed. Pretty much rain or shine, we listened and watched for eco-systems in the garden, made scavenger hunts, planted seeds, observed the changing seasons, harvested vegetables, raked, dug, watered, swept, sifted compost and created games. In the end we built a raised bed for the 2020 season. Watch for class announcements and sign up in the new gardening season!

NYC Compost Official Pumpkin Smash on Roosevelt Island 2019: Third Annual Event is Best Day Yet!

11/2/2019

by Christina Delfico of iDig2Learn

Partners rallied for the best Roosevelt Island Pumpkin Smash ever! Nearly 300 attendees came through to enjoy the day.

Manhattan Park's lower lawn was perfect. And this year Anthony Longo and his son AJ added a Pumpkin roll for the littlest smashers and a tumbler too, both huge hits. Julia Ferguson from the RI Garden club was on hand with the popular compost process and decomposer demonstration table. We also added delicious homemade layer cakes created by local Andrea Jackson of Your Favorite Cake.

So much gratitude for all the new and returning volunteers that went above and beyond including Aiesha Eleusizov, Akylbai Eleusizov for his photos as well as the Girl Scouts and the UN International School 9th and 10th grade volunteers. Thanks to returning help from Levka Starkova, Kim Massey, Karen Lee, Max, Niti Parikh, Danika, and all the attending smashers. It was wonderful to see Ms. Lauraine from PS 217 and her whole family, Mr. Barnes from Coler, Jeff Escobar and his family, Jennilie and Rob from Open Doors, and many more friends from the neighborhood.

If you want to smile, check out the photos below by Akylbai Eleusizov.

Thanks to all our generous partners Susan Rosenthal, Jessica Cerone, Erica Spencer-EL, Mary Cunneen, Fernando Vargas, Michelle Edwards, and the entire RIOC team, Gil Lopez and Bella Rabinovich, Devin Reitsma, Alvin Ulloa, Shakara Petteway and all the Big Reuse folks, Gina from DSNY, Brian Weisberg and the team from Manhattan Park, Sherene Steer-Ojelabi of NYC Ferry, Julia Ferguson of the Roosevelt Island Garden Club, Anthony Longo of GRIN, NYPL Ms. Jen & the Roosevelt Island branch, Angel and Lauren of Gristedes, Israel and David from Wengerd Farms, Chief Brown, Officer Wong and Arce and the PSD team, Kareen and team from Motorgate, and island news outlets including Rick O'Conor from The Roosevelt Islander, David Stone from The Roosevelt Island Daily and Briana Warsing from The Main Street WIRE plus island and Upper East Side groups who spread the word to make a great day.

And a big thank you to all the building managers shared the event with their residents in an effort to support sustainability and remove wet waste from their buildings and return food scraps back into the soil!

And to all the teams from the offices of the elected officials Senator Serrano, Assembly Member Seawright, Comptroller Stringer, Manhattan Borough President Brewer and City Council Member Kallos.

This annual Pumpkin Smash event is a fun way to convey that food scraps are not trash and keep our island clean and green.  NYC Compost Hosted by Big Reuse will process the pumpkin bits into compost just like they do with islander food scraps every Sat from 9am to 2:30pm at the Food Scrap Drop Off green bins next to the farmers market. To date Big Reuse has helped Roosevelt Island divert over 100,000 pounds of food scraps from landfill. Congratulations! We will share weight totals diverted from landfill when we have them.

Best Gardens 2019: A Collection From All Around

10/26/2019

Halima Aouchette, RIGC Standards Chair, presented
seven
Best Garden Certificates 2019
this year at the Fall General Meeting.

These were the result of regular active and exceptional gardening seen during the five Standards Committee visits across the 2019 season.

Congratulations are in order for all of the following gardeners.
A-01 Beverly and Zachary Schutes
B-26 Kwasi Long and Judith Abebe
C-16 Leonid Drozner
C-48 Robert Ostergaard
C-53 Stephane le Pichon
C-55 Mamta Gupta and Talat Kazuma
D-07 Vera Johnson

Fall General Meeting: October 20, 2019

10/20/2019

RIGC's Fall Annual Meeting went very well. Highlights included Neal Weissman's regular powerpoint with garden comics that only Neal can find. The quorum was reached by a longshot and our voting for new officers was a success with all uncontested candidates being voted in with a majority vote. The seven 2020 Elected Board members will be:

Neal Weissman - President
Johan Marfey- Vice President
Mike Ritter- Treasurer
Robert Ostergaard - Secretary
Jack Burkhalter-Director
Takelu Gross- Director
Tim Wong-Director

The other six Standing Committee Board positions are appointed every year in January per our by-laws.

Everyone was saddened to learn that Geof Kerr will be retiring from his position as Treasurer and has decided to become a Legacy gardener to give his plot to a new family on the waitlist. Geof is welcome at anytime in the gardens like all Legacy Associate gardeners.

Anthony Longo presented a stunning visual of the kinds of items that we want to be careful and keep out of the compostables piles. Member, Kaz Bujno received a special shout-out and thanks for an enormous amount of work supporting many areas in the garden this year. We also had a guessing game for the weight of a package of rocks that should NOT have been in compostable materials. Johan Marfey won that prize! At the end of the meeting we had a special reminder presentation by Karen Lee about avoiding plastic use and she also brought some give away prizes to support the environment. Spring bulbs were given to all who stayed to the end. It is time to start planning and preparing for next season.

Fall For Arts 2019 Brings Another Beautiful RIGC Mural

9/29/2019

Abundance and Variety! Peggy Roalf, artist, teacher, photographer and RIGC member for many years designed and painted a beautiful and unique mural sponsored by garden club this year. Amy Geller, Anthony Longo and Jenna Longo painted alongside Peggy on the day of the event.

Peggy, who can often be seen painting in our garden or on Cornell Tech campus was the lead artist and the design genius for this piece. With a background in art history and architecture, Roalf took simple acrylic paints and created colors that invite us to really stop and see the sky, the water, the trees, the bridge and the people of our Island.

RIOC's Fall for Arts theme in 2019 was Earth Love: Protect, Renew, Grow. Peggy showed us how to protect the vibrant colors of our world, how to renew our passion for art and beauty, and most of all how to grow in our connections with each other. Thank you, Peggy, for your abstract and realistic mural reminding us that nature and art protect us, renew our spirits, and help us grow.

Fall For Arts 2019 Earth Love: Protect, Renew, Grow

9/28/2019

RIGC was honored to provide a nature based art activity for Fall for Arts this year. Children and adults made watercolors of butterflies, birds, bees, rainbows, and more to celebrate the pollinators! Thanks to RIOC's careful planning, we were located on the lawn at South Point park right next to iDig2Learn with compost games and composter giveaways and Roosevelt Island Girl Scouts making reusable bags from reused t-shirts! A beautiful day for a beautiful theme. Thanks to Robert Ostergaard, Iliada Bass, Halima Aouchette and Julia Ferguson for helping to sponsor this activity.

Sad News in September: Don Sinisi's Passing on 9-11

9/25/2019

On September 11, 2019, our garden neighbor and friend, Don Sinisi passed away. Don was a joyful person, cool and accepting of others, and a founding member of RIGC who along with his wife, Susan, helped to build and establish our garden club.

Even in recent later years, when walking was difficult for him, Don would still come often to sit in his garden and enjoy the nature around him and talk to his fellow members. As his daughter wrote, "Although his body was giving out he was so positive and I loved speaking with him. His brain was a beautiful medley of thoughts and stories. He was also a great artist who loved painting images in oil paint from the garden. The garden and the gardeners inspired him."

Don is survived by his brother and sister, his daughter and son-in-law, his grand children as well as many cousins, nieces and nephews who will miss him. Don, a former Brooklynite, enjoyed taking the train to Coney island will be missed for his upbeat spirit and good cheer..

Don's daughter also said:
"Thank you for remembering Dad and for seeing his charm and beauty. He was special and unique. Please give his garden to somebody who loves the sun and tomatoes as much as he did."

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