The Friends of Hamlin Beach State Park and Park staff welcomed over 70 volunteers to the fourth annual I Love My Park Day at Hamlin Beach State Park on Saturday, May 2. Volunteers were welcomed upon registration with hot coffee provided by the Hamlin Lions Club. After brief opening remarks by Hamlin Beach park manager Kate Gross, Jayleen Carney from NYS Assemblyman Stephen Hawley’s office, and Hamlin Town Supervisor Eric Peters, volunteers spent the morning tackling a variety of work projects for all ages, interests and talents.
Local businesses Sherwin-Willams and Lowe’s in Brockport, and Home Depot in Greece donated all the painting supplies needed to paint the interior of the Camp Store at the park. Prospective Eagle Scout David Maslyn oversaw and participated in the planting of over 350 tree seedlings in the park’s established nursery. Other projects included cleaning out, weeding and adding mulch to two flower bed areas, raking out winter debris from the horseshoe pits, and prepping a vegetable garden, all of which had been created during previous I Love My Park Day events. Clean-up was also done along the beach front, at the basketball court in the campground, and at the former Civilian Conservation Corps/World War II Prisoner of War Camp on state park property on Moscow Road.
Water and snack bars donated by Tops Friendly Markets in Hamlin were provided to all during the work. Following a busy and very productive morning, workers enjoyed pizza donated from two Hamlin pizza restaurants: Mark’s Pizzeria and Pizza Shack.
The Friends of Hamlin Beach State Park is a nonprofit, charitable organization founded to support programs, services, activities, and preservation at Hamlin Beach State Park and the CCC/POW camp.
I Love My Park Day is a statewide event organized by Parks & Trails New York in partnership with the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic preservation. This year more than 6,000 volunteers pitched in on nearly 200 clean-up, beautification and improvement projects at 95 NYS parks and historic sites across the state.
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