Alley Pond Environmental Center is hoping to educate northeast Queens residents about Little Neck Bay through fun activities during its eighth annual National Estuaries Day event on Sept. 29.
The festival, which will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., is meant to draw attention to the community’s coastal bays, sounds and lagoons, said Aline Euler, APEC’s education director.
“Hopefully, we’ll promote stewardship for the bay,” Euler said. “It would be nice if we could get the bay’s water quality up a little bit so that we could begin to eat once again the shellfish and fish that come from there. But it still has a ways to go due to coliform, bacteria and poor water quality. If people pour something into a sewer pipe, that eventually runs into the water around us.”
The festival, which is free to attend, will include booths at which representatives from a variety of city, state and federal agencies will distribute information on estuaries.
There will also be free boat and canoe rides, activities and entertainment, demonstrations, games for children, crafts and large Styrofoam puppets.
“There’s quite a bit to see and do,” Euler said. “The boat and canoe rides are very popular and representatives from agencies will have a lot of giveaways.”
For more information, visit APEC’s website.
