Director's Report

by Marie and Wayne Smith

Since our last newsletter so much has happened at Sweetbriar. The spring festival, held in April, has turned into a very popular, well attended event. Children enjoyed games, an egg hunt, story time, relay races and a visit from the Easter Bunny. The Bird and Butterfly Breakfast celebrated the opening of the butterfly house. Everyone enjoyed delicious pancakes before it began to rain. The Wildlife and Nature Fair went on despite the threat of rain, with many special guest appearances. Every year before the fair the fields must be mowed, posing a hazard for our box turtles. However, we perform a "turtle walk" collecting and tagging found turtles and keeping them in an enclosure until the fair is over. This year a record number of turtles were found, by a record number of volunteers who, despite the tall, tall grass, poison ivy and threat of ticks, trudged through the fields finding 23 turtles!

Over 150 volunteers helped with all these wonderful occasions - an awesome testimony to the dedication of our volunteers. Without your help we could never undertake these events. Thank you all.

After five years without a lease, Smithtown Town Council voted on July 3rd to give Sweetbriar Nature Center a ten-year lease. We would like to take this opportunity to thank so many who supported this lease - members of the Town Board, especially Jane Conway and Joanne Gray; all people who wrote letters, made telephone calls, and attended meetings; members and volunteers who offered support and encouragement; and the local newspapers which have been so generous with their coverage. Thank you all so much. Because of you, Sweetbriar will be able to continue its mission of providing natural science education and wildlife rehabilitation services at Sweetbriar Farms for at least another 10 years.

Enjoy the summer and join us in the vivarium to see the beautiful butterflies. It is open daily, 10 am to 4 pm, until the end of September.