The Town of North Hempstead is hosting a Facebook contest beginning Monday to win a gift certificate for a lunch for two at the Grill Room at North Hempstead’s Harbor Links Golf Course in Port Washington. The contest is open to all North Hempstead residents. See the contest’s rules and details by clicking here.
Winter Wonderland
Enjoy the winter wonderland celebration at Clark Botanic Garden, bringing together various faiths, cultures and histories. On Dec.15-16 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., there will be special activities for children, including train displays, nature crafts, holiday readings and more.
The garden will feature a lighted landscape and an indoor holiday train display from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Admission to Winter Wonderland is free. Call 311 for the latest updates and hours of operation.
Recycling during the holidays
North Hempstead residents who want to preserve the planet are encouraged to recycle their used Christmas trees and unwanted electronics.
“Tree Cycling benefits the environment and the community,” Supervisor Kaiman said, noting that old trees are turned into mulch for use in gardening and landscaping. “And recycling your electronic waste is a win, win undertaking, freeing up valuable space while keeping damaging materials like lead, mercury and arsenic out of landfills, thus keeping toxins out of our drinking water.”
This holiday season, town officials also recommend that residents switch to energy-saving Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights, which ultimately lowers electric bills.
Residents can get rid of energy-thirsty Christmas lights every Sunday from 7:30am-3:30pm until the end of January at 999 West Shore Road in Roslyn, North Hempstead’s residential drop-off site, and at the Town of North Hempstead Solid Waste Management Authority (SWMA) 802 West Shore Rd, Port Washington Monday – Friday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., excluding holidays.
For more information on "tree cycling," call 311 or visit the town's website.
Those receiving new electronics can recycle their unwanted gadgets through the town. Collected electronic waste is hauled off by the town’s EPA certified e-waste recycler, who disassembles the items, salvages the useable parts, separates out potentially damaging materials, and recyclables the balance.
The town takes the e-waste program to every community through its school recycling partnership program. Following are the e-waste collection dates, and drop-off locations available to all residents:
School District Location Dates
Carle Place Rushmore School Jan 8-9
Herricks Herricks Community Center Jan 10-11
Port Washington Sousa Elementary School Jan 14-15
Manhasset Manhasset Middle/High School Jan 17-18
New Hyde Park New Hyde Park Road School Jan 22-23
East Williston Wheatley High School Jan 24-25
Great Neck Parkwood Parking Lot Jan 30-31
Hours are from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
E-waste disposal is available to residents only at the Town of North Hempstead Resident Drop-Off Center, 999 West Shore Rd, Port Roslyn Sunday’s only from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm excluding Holiday’s and newly added drop-off times at the Solid Waste Management Authority (SWMA) 802 West Shore Rd, Port Washington Monday – Friday from 8 am to 4 pm, excluding Holidays.
P.S. I still have some old C9 light strings where the wire is thicker than many modern extension cords.
First, given that there are many non-Christians in my community who do not decorate their homes during this particular holiday season (and perhaps there are many Christians who do not decorate, as well) -- don't you think this contest is a bit, um, how shall I say, exclusionary (perhaps even discriminatory)? Let's be honest. By definition, this contest limits its entrants based on religious background and/or observance. Your contest, almost by definition, excludes people who do not decorate for Christmas (including Christians). Second, and perhaps more important, I believe that it is really, really, really dangerous to tie public school money -- however free the money may be -- to anything remotely related to religion. I know this is not a strict First Amendment Church-State issue, but it is still a slippery slope. Perhaps next year, you will think of a more ecumenical way to give away money to a school district... however well-intention your present effort may have been.
I agree somewhat with your second point.
Given that this is a community-based award, being given to a PUBLIC school district, I would complain about ANY contest that, whether by intent or design, is irrelevant to that public entity's mission which, in this case, is public education. Any contest involving a public entity should be designed around a subject matter relevant to that public entity. A cute baby contest to win (for example) a year's supply of Johnsons & Johnsons products, or a free photography session, is an entirely different animal. (Did I understand your analogy correctly?)
BTW, for port to have any chance of taking the $100k prize you'll have to rely on me to enter my home.