Message from our Executive Director

Welcome to March! We are wrapping up the 1^st quarter of 2022 and focusing our efforts on INNOVATION. Innovative ideas and projects drive us to accomplish more for our constituents! We want our communication to be innovative as well. Please keep an eye out for a survey in next month's newsletter.

March is National Nutrition Month and Women’s History Month! Our Community Education Program will be sharing nutritious tips all month long. And, we will be sharing information about women who have impacted our lives.

We are looking forward to meeting with many of our Suffolk County Legislators this month and sharing our plans for the year! Our staff is also presenting at several Legislative Committee Meetings. Thanks to our Marine Program Director, Chris Pickerell for recently updating the EPA Committee on our successful environmental initiatives!

Enjoy this update and take time to get involved in the many programs we offer throughout Suffolk County!

~Vanessa Pino Lockel

It's Nutrition Month!

Throughout the month of March, CCE-Suffolk is celebrating Nutrition Month!

Best nutrition practices are the bedrock of a healthy lifestyle. CCE-Suffolk wants to help protect and strengthen our communities through a well-rounded approach to Nutrition. This month in association with the Academy of Dietetics, our nutrition experts will remind us of effective nutritional habits and skills.

Click here to read more about our efforts

Now in Español!

To serve the needs of all the members of our community, we have launched a Facebook account in Spanish (@CCEenEspanol)

This innovative effort will create a stronger relationship with the Spanish-speaking population in order to understand their needs and learn how to serve them better.

Program Highlights

CCE-Suffolk's camps are now open for registration! Our staff is preparing an exciting season for all campers. The award-winning camps will have different interests from art, marine biology, farm animals, and more.

Suffolk County Farm If you visit the farm, you will notice we have grown by two baby goats! The baby goats could meet all the kids at the farm for "Winter Days." This was a week where the farm hosted children on their winter break to enjoy the farm.

The Agriculture Program Area has alerted the community of the concern over the Avian Flu found in a flock here in Suffolk. To learn more about this ongoing situation, continue reading below for the most current available information.

Our Community Horticulture staff is excited for the first installment of their Spring Trio. Rick Darke will show strategies for designing your gardens that support our local environment. See our events listing below for information on how to join.

New upcoming free virtual events are on the schedule from our Human Development Team! Their workshops are blocks of series that focus on each developmental stage. This month they are focusing on the Preschooler and Tween/Teen years.

Our Nutrition and Diabetes Team is getting ready for Nutrition month in March. They will be facilitating conversations about how much the world impacts our nutrition around us all month. Look out for their content throughout our website and social media accounts.

Our Marine Program, the spawning that began on Valentine's Day, is well underway. The Hatcheries team found the spawning has been successful and will soon be ready for the next stage in their development.

In Babylon, the Sports Fishing and Education center was gifted a driftwood sculpture from a local artist. This sculpture will symbolize the importance of the bridge that CCE-Suffolk creates between our local marine environment and our residents.

New Board Member Spotlight-

Kristina Wollschlaeger

Kristina Wollschlaeger, Chief Operating Officer of McKinsey & Company’s M&A Practice, is responsible for shaping strategic priorities and driving operational excellence of this large, global practice.

Kristina joined McKinsey as a consultant in 1993. She advised clients in the financial industry and later counseled clients across sectors on HR and performance management and organization design. As Associate Dean of Client Learning, and later, as Director of Learning, Kristina launched a series of client capability-building initiatives, led the learning program for early-tenure consultants, and shaped the learning agenda for McKinsey’s Organization Practice.

Before joining McKinsey, Kristina worked in secondary and adult education. She graduated from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and the University of Hamburg, Germany. Kristina also held a New York City school administrator certification.

In addition to joining the board of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, Kristina serves as the Commodore of the Shinnecock Yacht Club (Quogue, NY), one of the oldest in the country.

Ask the Family Educator

With so much stress in everyday life, my brain is being over-taxed. What can I do to keep my brain sharp, especially now that I am middle-aged? I want to move forward in life with clear functioning and good mental health.

What a great question! A popular notion is that the brain starts to decline, thinking is not as sharp, and forgetfulness sets in as we get older. However, this is not inevitable! A new study focused on people aged 100 + found that we can continue to enjoy good brain health late in life!

What’s the secret to staying mentally sharp at any age? Maintaining good vision and hearing are important as these senses allow us to socialize and communicate, so important for overall well-being. Staying physically active is also vital, so walking and swimming are good examples of lifelong physical activities with not as much stress on the body compared to running or tennis.

The secret is starting at a young age and continuing to remain physically active over your life span. A final tip is to keep reading and educating yourself. Learn a new language or learn to play a musical instrument. Keep up with community and world news. Stimulate your thinking process by engaging in discussions with others. You’re never too old to learn something new. Ironically, by doing so you will remain young in mind and heart.

Click here to email a question to our Parent Educator

Be a Flock Defender: Avian Flu

A highly pathogenic avian influenza has been found in a small backyard flock in Suffolk County.

All those involved in poultry production are encouraged to take extra steps to prevent their flocks from becoming infected. All poultry producers, from small backyard to large commercial operations, should review their biosecurity plans and take precautions to protect their birds. Poultry biosecurity materials and checklists can be found on the USDA’s “Defend the Flock” website. USDA APHIS | Defend the Flock Program

Best practices include:

Discourage unnecessary visitors and use biosecurity signs to warn people not to enter buildings without permission.
Ask all visitors if they have had any contact with any birds in the past five days.
Forbid entry to employees and visitors who own any kind of fowl.
Require all visitors to cover and disinfect all footwear.
Lock all entrances to chicken houses after hours.
Avoid non-essential vehicular traffic on-farm.
After hauling birds to processors, clean and disinfect poultry transport coops and vehicles before they return to the farm.
Report anything unusual, especially sick or dead birds.

To report sick birds, unexplained high number of deaths, or sudden drop in egg production, please contact NYS Dept. of Ag & Market’s Division of Animal Industry at (518) 457-3502 or the USDA at (866) 536-7593.

In addition to the above, poultry owners should keep their birds away from wild ducks and geese and their droppings. Outdoor access for poultry should be limited at this time.

Upcoming Events

Agriculture/Gardening

Parks for All: Frederick Law Olmsted
2022 Winter Webinar Series for Ornamental Horticulture
Backyard Berries
Gardening with Deer
Garden Makeover on a Budget
2022 Respirator Fit Testing Clinic
Garden Lens
The Gardens of Downton Abbey
Organic Vegetable Gardening
2022 Spring Gardening School
Native Plants in Your Garden
Pollinator Garden

Click for more events

Suffolk County Farm/ 4-H

Veterinary Career Exploration
Maple Sugaring
St. Partick's Scavenger Hunt
St. PUPtrick's Day
Wood Burning Class

Click for more events

Community Education

Babycafe
Preschooler Talk
Charlas de Nutricion
De La Granja a Su Mesa
Farm to Table
Essential Steps to Healthy Aging
Caring for Two

Click for more events

Marine

Marsh Madness
Marine Camp Registration Open

Click for more events

In The Press

Driftwood Sculpture donation

Local father-son artists donated a whale sculpture to our Marine Department. The art piece was crafted with found driftwood from our local shores. Along with local legislators, we honored the artists with a plaque dedication.

Click Here to Watch the Segment

Freezing Shellfish Broodstock

A research project from Cornell University led by our educator Gregg Rivara, has found that shellfish broodstock can be kept alive at low temperatures and used in future seedings – significantly cutting waste and making hatcheries more efficient.

Click to Read More

SEAd Bomb Kits

Our Marine Program gave away its “SEAd Bomb Kits,” to help restore wildflowers and coastal grasses. These kits are an important practice to maintain local marine habitats. As part of the Valentine’s Day promotion, the extension gave and sold kits to community members.

Click To Read More

Stakeholder Visits

This month our team met with a couple of important stakeholders that help support our mission of providing localized applied resources to our communities.

We met with Drew Gabriel from CAMBA, the VP of Intergovernmental Affairs at CAMBA, a non-profit agency serving NYC. They focus on affordable housing development, community gardens, and offering children and adults access to needed resources. CCE-Suffolk is looking for ways to increase our audiences' diversity and make our resources available.

The Bianchi Davis Greenhouses Orchid Wholesalers in Riverhead are known for their exquisite orchids. They have shown great support to CCE-Suffolk and our initiatives through our close partnership. Last month, we visited their Greenhouse and connected with Bill Sanok, our former Agriculture Program Director.

We look forward to working more with these stakeholders and engaging in new innovative avenues of collaboration.

Choose Local Fish Monthly Recipe

Striped Bass Ceviche

by: Stefanie Sacks, MS, CNS, CDN

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

1.5 lbs. striped bass fillet, dice
6. limes, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 teaspoon jalapeno, minced
1/2 cup cilantro, rough chop
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

To clean fish, douse fillets with lemon and salt, then rinse under cold water. Place on a clean, dry side towel or layered paper towel.

Toss all ingredients in bowl and mix gently but thoroughly.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap (or other wrap) and let sit in fridge for 30 minutes or up to one hour.

Mix again and add salt as needed.

Serve “naked” or with tortilla chips or crackers.

Click to see more Local F.I.S.H Recipes

Out In Your District

CCE-Suffolk was proud to participate in the First Senatorial District’s Environmental Roundtable hosted by Senator Anthony Palumbo, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. and Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio.

Our Marine program director joined other environmental advocates in sharing information and recommendations for our area.

Assem blyman Michael Durso, Terence McSweeney, Gordon Canary, Senator Phil Boyle, Daniel McKeon, Stevie Ann Luongo, Councilman Anthony Manetta, Guy Calla, and Legislator Kevin McCaffrey sent their congratulations for the plaque dedication of the donated Whale sculpture.

Executive Director Vanessa Pino Lockel had her ongoing discussion with the CALS Roadmap project 2050 and the Food Systems Pilot workgroup to address significant concerns of our county and state.

LGBT network met with us to discuss and help plan our Annual Pride Events held at the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank.

Camp Diabetes Nurse

Serve as a diabetes camp nurse for our 4-H camps. Find more information about this and other positions below.

See all open positions here

CCE-Suffolk.org