COMMUNITY CALENDAR

To place an item in this space, send information at least two weeks before the event to editors@antonmediagroup.com.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21

Sunset Yoga

7:15 p.m. (Manorhaven Beach Park) Town of North Hempstead’s free Summer events.

Market, in collaboration with the Great Neck Park District. Twenty plus vendors featuring locally grown vegetables, fresh baked breads and sweets, artisan cheeses, fresh seafood, honey, prepared foods, jams, coffees, and much more. Weekly guest art and craft vendors. Social media: @greatneckfarmersmarket | www.deeprootsfarm- with basic tech questions about your tablet, smartphone, laptop, and more. Assistance will be provided on a first come, first served basis. No registration is required.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28

Project Independence

THURSDAY, JUNE 29

Project Independence

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Magnolia Gardens)

A Town of North Hempstead event for seniors. Healing after loss support group. Call 311 for more information.

Sing Along

12:30 p.m. (Great Neck Social Center)

Sing Along with Mindye and Phoebe. While music is proven to help with memory, actively participating in music has been shown to have many health benefits for seniors. Songs are age appropriate and seniors can request songs. This class is no cost to Nassau County residents. Please call 516-487-0025 to reserve your spot.

FRIDAY, JUNE 30

Plant the Seedlings

6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. (Levels Teen Center)

Kick off our summer planting project by planting some sprouting seedlings in our all-new planting bed. For teens who’ll be in grades seven and up. Levels Teen Center events are drop-in events.

JANET BURNS OLIVIARAINSON MATT HELLERMAN

editors@antonmediagroup.com

From June 6 to 9, large swaths of the U.S. East Coast were blanketed in wildfire smoke originating in Eastern Canada, where climate change and related environmental factors (e.g. longer summers, shorter winters, less rain, and invasive bark-boring beetles, to name a few) have led to wildfires of increasing intensity and scope in recent years.

Seeing a red sun blotted out in a sky full of woodsmoke is not an uncommon occurrence on the West Coast of North America, where worsening wildfires have ravaged large parts of California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia in the past decade.

Here on the East Coast, however, the sight was shocking to many, as was the pervasive smell of woodsmoke and the irritation of particulate matter in our regional air. As a result, perhaps, reactions to the conditions were mixed and somewhat staggered among state and municipal authorities.

School districts and municipalities in lower New York State were mostly left to make their own decisions about the smoke, which is generally a difficult condition to predict, and moved into our area quickly on June 6 after weeks of ongoing fires in Canada.

For example, on June 7th, during the worst of the haze, Port Washington Superintendent Dr. Michael Hynes moved all after-school activities indoors and continued this precaution to the next day. However, most sports had already finished their seasons, so only a few activities remained.

“We prioritize the safety and well-being of our students and staff,” Dr. Hynes said in a letter to the community, where he promised to “continue to monitor the situation” closely.

Meanwhile, the majority of schools in that district cancelled their outdoor events entirely, and Port Youth Activities, which runs all throughout the summer, did the same. As the smoke gradually appeared to be behind (rather, above) us, after-school activities quickly re-opened to their fullest capacity, with administrators planning on finishing the school year without any more bumps in the road.

On June 7, City of Glen Cove Mayor Pam Panzenbeck also posted on Facebook: “due to the diminished air quality, to protect the health and safety of our DPW workers and our parks’ employees, garbage will not be picked up tomorrow, Thursday, June 8. Tomorrow’s garbage and recycling will be picked up on Friday, June 9. If your usual pick up is Friday, this week, garbage and recycling will be picked up on Saturday, June 10. Pascucci Soccer Field and Maccarone Stadium will also be closed. All