July 6: Canoe Willow Lake in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park!

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UPDATE:  Thanks to all for making it a successful day!

 

The little creek thrown wide at Willow Lake.

The little creek thrown wide at Willow Lake.

Dear Harbor Friends,

We certainly need your help in the coming days.
 
We’re especially pressed for volunteers (desk attendants, life vest fitters, and paddlers) to make canoeing at Willow Lake in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park possible on Sunday! Details below.
 
Please email volunteer@harborlab.org with the subject line “Willow Lake” to let organizer Patricia Erickson know you’d like to help. She’ll need one or two people for 30 minutes of help at our launch (53-21 Vernon Boulevard, LIC, NY 11101) to load canoes on the trailer. 
 
Share the event with friends on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/578104722258336/
WILLOW LAKE LOCATION HERE:
More Details:
Volunteers needed to work the sign-in and environmental education table, serve as safety escorts, help launch and land boats, and fit life vests. We’d also love for naturalists to provide birding insights to participants.Explore the Willow Lake wetlands preserve aboard HarborLAB canoes for educational recreation and to photodocument its habitat restoration, resident and migratory birds, and other beautiful sights.In partnership with the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Conservancy, by permit of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

Location:

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zp5sKABHidJA.kkJL-nerYf0I

If you get lost, go to the Triassic Playground (http://mapofplay.kaboom.org/playspaces/4714) by Meadow Lake for information and directions to our sign up table.

We encourage university students, schools, community groups, houses of worship, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and other interested parties to partner with us as volunteers and participants. We’re especially interested in water monitoring, habitat projects, and cleanups.

HarborLAB intern Erik Yax Garcia samples water for quality testing each week. Results are published here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhvspccU_-qrdFpQRWY1cWN6d0pGdTJndk5hdE5mX0E&usp=sharing#gid=0

If bacteria counts are high (red zone), we suspend programming. We use canoes to minimize water contact as a precaution for other days, even though the red/yellow/green coding refers to swimming conditions. This week the water tested in the “green” zone and we’re assured by parks officials that no sewage pours into the lake. We opt for canoes over sit-on-top kayaks as an added caution.