Riley Avenue Elementary School held its first-ever Thanksgiving parade today.
Children in Tammy Hardison’s and Deb Mitchell’s speech classes put on the parade, which marched through the elementary school’s hallways.
The classes read the book “Balloons Over Broadway” by Melissa Sweet, which is all about the history of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The favorite holiday parade in New York City dates back to 1924.
The giant helium-filled balloons that thrill audiences today originally were non-helium balloons mounted on sticks. The children made colorful balloons of their own for today’s parade — and, like the balloons when the parade first started, they were mounted on sticks and held high overhead by the parade participants.
The kids created favorite movie characters such as Minions, Spiderman, Superman, Super Mario and Dalmatians.
The rest of the children lined the hallways to watch the parade pass by.
“This is a great event — our very first Thanksgiving parade,” principal David Enos said.
Students also put on a Thanksgiving play, telling the story of the pilgrims’ arrival in North American and gathering for a feast with the indigenous people, who welcomed the hungry pilgrims with gifts of food.
Following the play, the kids enjoyed a Thanksgiving turkey lunch.
Give the best gift this holiday season, give the gift of life by donating blood at the Riverhead Firehouse’s Blood Drive on Tuesday, Dec. 3 from 1 to 7 p.m. in the banquet room.
New York Blood Center has declared a blood emergency and donations are especially critical during this time. After the summer months the blood supply has reached a critically low level. People of all blood types are encouraged to donate, but those with O negative or B negative are especially needed.
To further reward donators, Moustache Brewing Co. is offering “Pint For a Pint.” A voucher for a free beer at Moustache Brewing Co. will be given to those that donate.
Appointments for donating can be scheduled, but walk-ins are welcome. If you are going to donate, make sure to eat well and drink plenty of fluids. An ID such as driver’s license with photo, state ID, passport, student ID with photo or a Blood Donor Card is required for donating.
Soft sand ran through the fingers of Aquebogue Elementary School students as they participated in an interdisciplinary science, stimulation and language lesson.
Working together, the students in Susan Leyhane’s class followed multistep instructions to make several batches of kinetic sand, which they are using for purposeful play and STEM activities.
“The students learned while doing,” said Aquebogue Principal Bryan Miltenberg. “The messier the activity, the more fun the students have and the more engaged they become.”
The project was supported by teaching assistant Jennifer Crosby and aides Deborah Baron, Alissa Behr and Laura Huber.
Source: Riverhead Central School District press release dated Nov. 22, 2019.
Riverhead High School junior Lauren Enos has earned multiple recognitions from prestigious music organizations.
Enos, who plays the clarinet, was selected to perform in the New York State School Music Association All-State Music Festival as a first clarinetist in the symphony orchestra and a bass clarinetist in the wind ensemble. She was chosen based on her outstanding performance at the NYSSMA Solo Evaluation Festival last spring.
Enos was also recently named principal clarinetist for the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra and the New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education’s All-County Music Festival. Additionally, she will be performing as first clarinetist for the Hampton Music Educators Association.
For Enos, the clarinet is a large part of her life. She practices daily and performs with her school’s band and community groups. She also takes private lessons with Anton Rist, principal clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. During the summer, she attended the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan, where she advanced her skills as a member of the wind ensemble. She has been invited to attend the camp again in summer 2020.
Source: Riverhead Central School District press release dated Nov. 22, 2019.
Riverhead Central School District hosted a Career Exploration program as part of its Parent University initiative on Nov. 19.
During the event, students met with professionals in various fields to gain insight on a broad spectrum of career opportunities. They learned about the professionals’ schooling and the work they do on a daily basis. Career fields included law, journalism, business and finance, law enforcement, construction, art, design and advertising, technology, engineering, animal and environmental sciences, and health sciences.
The Parent University series aims to connect parents with school and community resources and provide information related to challenges parents may face. Additional workshops and seminars featuring a variety of speakers are planned for later this school year.
Source: Riverhead Central School District press release dated Nov. 21, 2019.
High school musicians are encouraged to apply to the Music Masters Mentorship Program and work under acclaimed jazz educator Dr. Thomas Manuel at East End Arts in Riverhead.
Applications from music students aged 14 to 18 for the Music Masters Mentorship Program are being accepted until Dec. 3. All instruments including vocals are welcome to apply. Manuel will direct the group in a public Music Masters Jazz Concert on Friday, March 6, 2020.
The program consists of a weekly three hour workshop that starts in late January and runs until March, cumulating in the Music Masters Jazz Concert performance. The program is full-tuition and will give students training in professional rehearsal, performance skills and guidance from Manuel, an industry professional.
Image courtesy of SBU Dept. of Education
Manuel is a jazz historian, music educator and trumpet player. As a faculty member of Stony Brook University , he recently received an endowed Artist in Residence chair within the jazz department at Stony Brook University.
Hoping to spread jazz education, Manuel established music programs for students in Port Au Prince in Haiti and in Monrovia in Liberia.
Manuel also opened The Jazz Loft in downtown Stony Brook. A public non-profit that hosts weekly musical performances, music education classes and a jazz history museum.
Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming (D-Southampton) has declared her candidacy for Congress in New York’s First Congressional District.
The South Fork legislator announced her campaign in a launch video this morning.
“The stakes are too high at this point to stay on the sidelines,” Fleming said in a phone interview this morning.
“Our congressman is spending the majority of his time on national TV, circling the wagons around the president and engaged in the turmoil in Washington,” Fleming said of incumbent Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley.)
“I’ve spent the better part of the decade serving the needs of this community and I am in the best position to bring change to Congress, to get back to the basics of representing the needs of our district,” Fleming said.
“That’s why I’m throwing my hat in the ring.”
Fleming, 59, a former prosecutor and former Southampton Town councilwoman, was elected to represent Suffolk’s Second Legislative District in 2015.
“First District families need a champion — someone who is going to listen and then roll up her sleeves to get the job done,” Fleming said.
“I’ve spent the last four years on the legislature advocating for my district and its families. Together, we’ve secured hundreds of millions of dollars to protect our environment, advanced real progress on affordable housing, delivered major infrastructure improvements and funding for our transportation system, and combated the epidemic of tick-borne disease,” Fleming said in the press release announcing her campaign launch.
Fleming said Zeldin is so caught up in Washington politics and “currying favor with the president,” he is not delivering for his constituents in NY-01.
“Zeldin denied well-founded climate science as he supported an administration advocating massive cuts to the EPA and rollbacks of environmental regulations,” she said. “He voted to take health care away from hundreds of thousands of First District residents when he voted to gut the Affordable Care Act, and he blatantly disregards the facts as he continues to deny foreign interference in the 2016 election.”
Fleming said she respects the other candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to face Zeldin in 2020 but believes she is
“the best candidate to beat Lee Zeldin in November.”
Perry Gershon, 57, the East Hampton Democrat who lost to Zeldin by 4% in the 2018 midterm election, is seeking his party’s nod again in 2020. Political newcomer Nancy Goroff, 51, of Stony Brook, declared her candidacy in July. Both Gershon, a businessman, and Goroff, a professor at Stony Brook University, have never before held elective office.
Zeldin is seeking his fourth two-year term in the House of Representatives.
A two-car crash at the intersection of Middle Road and Ostrander Avenue this morning sent four people, including one child, to the hospital.
None of the injuries was life-threatening, police said.
Middle Road was closed to traffic between Northville Turnpike and Roanoke Avenue for approximately half an hour.
A westbound van on Middle Road attempting to make a left turn onto Ostrander Avenue at about 9:30 a.m. collided with an eastbound Volkswagen sedan, which overturned.
Police were able to extricate a young child from the overturned vehicle, which came to a rest on its side on the southeast corner of the intersection. A Riverhead Fire Department heavy rescue unit extricated the three adult occupants of the vehicle.
Thanksgiving came early for students at Saint John Paul II Regional School and local community members.
Students from kindergarten through eighth grade welcomed senior citizens from the Flanders Senior Center and other community members to the cafeteria at Saint John Paul II for feast to celebrate this time of thanks.
The seventh and eighth graders led the room in a group prayer and then served plates of turkey with all the trimmings to hungry students and adults.
Some teachers walked around with pitchers of gravy and bowls of cranberry sauce offering them to delighted diners.
The Thanksgiving-themed cafeteria was decorated with turkeys and colorful fall leaves and many of the younger students were dressed up like pilgrims and Native Americans.
The Thanksgiving feast is a long-standing tradition at the Catholic elementary school (formerly St. Isidore’s school), said teacher Nancy Ryan.
Santa Claus will be making his was around Wading River, visiting children, handing out candy and collecting food donations for the Wading River Fire Department’s Stuff-A-Bus food drive on Sunday, Dec. 8 starting at 10 a.m. (Rain date: Sunday, Dec. 15.)
“Santa is looking forward to once again seeing all the children from Wading River,” said Wading River Fire Department board president Mike Hammer.
Fire Department members will escort Santa and firetrucks will announce Santa’s arrival with sirens and airhorns. Members of the fire department will be collecting nonperishable food items for the annual Stuff-A-Bus food drive.
The Stuff-A-Bus food drive starts right after Thanksgiving. The holiday is later in the month this year than typical, so the drive will be shorter than usual — though the need is just as great.
“After the Thanksgiving deliveries, the food pantries are all very low,” Hammer said.
First Student Bus Co. donated the use of the big yellow school bus the fire department hopes to fill with donated food. Last year, the bus was completely filled— to the point where people couldn’t walk down the aisle.
Donations of nonperishable food will be accepted until Jan. 5, when the bus will travel to several food pantries around the East End to distribute the donations.
The bus is parked outside the fire department headquarters on North Country Road and people are welcome to go directly to the bus to donate. Other donation collection locations are outside the Wading River King Kullen and inside Defined Health and Fitness Gym.
Capt. Thomas Whelan is in charge of Stuff-a-Bus this year and will be helped by volunteer firefighters, EMS rescue personnel, the WRFD Auxiliary and the local Boy Scout Troop 94.
The food pantries that will receive donations are Living Water Full Gospel Church in Riverhead, Saint Anselm’s Episcopal Church in Shoreham, Wading River Congregational Church, Saint John the Baptist Church in Wading River, Saints Peter & Paul Church in Manorville, Trinity Lutheran Church in Rocky Point, and North Shore United Methodist Church in Wading River.
Levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached another new record high, according to a report released yesterday by the World Meteorological Organization.
And the gap between what we need to do to reduce those emissions to a level we can live with and what we are actually doing keeps growing, the United Nations Environment Program said in a report published today.
Residents concerned about the impacts of these trends — and what local communities need to do to both cope with those impacts and mitigate them — gathered at Riverhead Town Hall last night for a presentation by the State DEC’s Office of Climate Change.
Mark Lowery of the NYS DEC’s Office of Climate Change discussed the impacts of climate change and the state’s Climate Smart Communities at Riverhead Town Hall Nov. 25. Photo: Denise Civiletti
Controlling greenhouse gas emissions is the key to limiting global temperature increase to a level that will avoid catastrophe, Mark Lowery of the Office of Climate Change in Albany explained.
Climate scientists say we need to limit the increase in the Earth’s average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above what it was in the pre-industrial era — that is, mid- to late-19th Century — to prevent catastrophic impacts.
According to the U.N. report, we need to reduce emissions by 7.6% every year from 2020 to 2030 to cap the Earth’s average temperature increase at 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“If we do not, we will miss a closing moment in history,” the U.N. Environmental Program warns. “If we do nothing beyond our current, inadequate commitments to halt climate change, temperatures can be expected to rise 3.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with devastating effect,” the U.N. report says.
Earth’s average temperature has already increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius above that pre-industrial baseline, Lowery said last night. The impacts of the increase in average temperature are already being seen, he said.
Satellite image of Superstorm Sandy, October 2012.
Among them: more precipitation; more extreme precipitation events — both rain and snow; more frequent and enhanced coastal storms; loss of arctic sea ice; changes in the jet stream; and sea level rise.
Sea level has already risen 13 inches on the New York coast since the 19th Century, Lowery said. And those of us who live along the coast are already witnessing and coping with the impacts of “unstoppable sea level rise.”
Long Island is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events, sea-level rise and coastal erosion. Like all of the Mid-Atlantic coast, the area is experiencing sea-level rise at rates three to four times higher than the global average rate — because the land mass of the entire region is actually sinking, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Scientists project sea-level rise here to range from two feet to six feet above current levels by the end of the century.
Sea level rise will cause loss of tidal ecosystems, increases in hydrostatic pressure that will put critical infrastructure at risk, and saltwater intrusion of the drinking water aquifer.
Much of downtown Riverhead was inundated by storm surge from Sandy in October 2012. File photo: Peter Blasl
“We’re already beginning to see these impacts,” Lowery said.
“One hundred and ninety-seven nations signed the Paris climate accord. If all of them kept their commitments, we will lock into 1.5C by 2030,” he said.
However, as the U.N. report released today shows, there is a significant gap between greenhouse gas emission commitments in the agreement and achievements. The U.S. has pulled out of the agreement altogether, with the Trump administration rolling back regulations aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions, Lowery said.
New York State this year enacted the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which adopted “the most aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals of any major economy,” Lowery said. The act lays out a path to carbon neutrality, calling for 70% renewable energy (wind, water and solar) by 2030, an 85% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 and 100% clean electricity by 2030. New York defines “clean” electricity to include electricity produced by nuclear reactors, Lowery noted.
To meet the goals set by the act, New York will have to eliminate all emissions from its transportation and housing sectors, which account for two-thirds of emissions produced in the state.
The state’s climate action council is developing a scoping plan with recommendations for achieving greenhouse gas limits by January 2022.
Meanwhile, communities across New York are asked to join the Climate Smart Communities Program, pledging their commitment to address the 10 areas described by the state program:
build a climate-smart community;
inventory emissions, set goals, and plan for climate action;
In all, 285 communities across the state have registered, he said. However, only a relatively small minority of them have taken their programs to the next level, becoming certified as communities who have taken concrete actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
To become certified, local governments must pursue mandatory, priority and optional actions defined by the program to achieve certification by the state as bronze, silver or gold climate-smart communities. The certification is based on a point system, with different points assigned to different actions. Thus far, no community in the state has reached the gold level, Lowery said. In Suffolk, while nine of the 10 towns are registered, only two — Southampton and East Hampton, have become certified.
The first step toward certification at the bronze level is for a town to complete two mandatory actions: designating a program “point person” (10 points) and creating a Climate Smart Communities task force (20 points). The town can then choose from a list of optional actions that will earn the remaining 90 points for bronze certification.
Riverhead Town has not yet taken either of the first two steps, Deputy Supervisor Catherine Kent said last night. Kent brought the resolution to join the Climate Smart Communities program to the board in July. She said she thought the Environmental Advisory Committee would serve as the CSC task force.
In addition to members of Riverhead’s Environmental Advisory Committee, members of Southold Town’s CSC task force attended the meeting in Riverhead last night, as did at least one person from Southampton Town’s task force and members of the general public.
Riverhead Town Police yesterday reported a pair of motor vehicle accidents that resulted in two people being airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital.
On Monday afternoon just before 2 o’clock, a man was injured in a dirt bike accident in the area of the park on Oakland Drive North in Riverhead. A Suffolk County Police helicopter flew the victim to Stony Brook for treatment of injuries police described as non-life-threatening.
On Tuesday afternoon just after 4:30, a motorcycle struck an SUV on Grumman Boulevard, police said. The operator of the motorcycle sustained a leg injury and was airlifted to Stony Brook for treatment, police said.
The operator of the SUV was uninjured, police said.
Northwell Health’s Peconic Bay Medical Center received five-star ratings in multiple medical and surgical services as well as recognition for excellence in total joint replacement surgery, according to the Healthgrades’ “2020 Report to the Nation.”
The report cited Peconic Bay Medical Center for five-star distinction — Healthgrades’ highest rating — in total knee replacement, hip replacement, bariatric surgery, gallbladder removal surgery and treatment of stroke. It was the second consecutive year of five-star recognition for PBMC’s bariatric surgery services and the third consecutive year of recognition for its gallbladder removal surgery services. Earlier this year, Peconic Bay Medical Center was also recognized with the 2019 gynecologic surgery excellence award.
Peconic Bay Medical Center also received a joint replacement excellence award, which recognized the Riverhead-based hospital as among the top 10% in the nation for joint replacement surgery. Peconic Bay Medical Center has also received the Joint Commission’s gold seal of approval for total knee-joint replacement and total hip-joint replacement.
“These awards are a testament to the quality of entire patient-care team and an affirmation of the confidence the members of the community have placed in us,” PBMC president and CEO Andrew Mitchell said.
“We are extremely proud to be a top 10%, nationally recognized leader in joint replacement and the top choice for Long Island residents for orthopedic surgery, part of PBMC’s renowned Kanas Center for Advanced Surgery,” he said.
Mitchell said the medical center is excited about the opening in January of the state-of-the-art Corey Critical Care Pavilion supporting the most advanced cardiac, stroke and trauma care on the East End.
Every year, Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 32 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions using Medicare data and all-payer data from 15 states.
According to Healthgrades, variation in hospital quality can have a significant impact on the quality of care a patient receives. From 2016 through 2018, patients treated at hospitals receiving the joint replacement specialty excellence award have, on average nearly a 60% lower risk of a complication while in the hospital.
See the complete Healthgrades’ “2020 Report to the Nation” and detailed study methodology here. https://partners.healthgrades.com/healthgrades-quality-solutions/healthgrades-quality-awards/.
How do you help feed a community for Thanksgiving?
Twenty turkeys, 100 pounds of mashed potatoes, 50 pounds of sweet potatoes, 80 pounds of stuffing and 25 pounds of assorted vegetables … and, of course, gravy – more than five gallons of it!
Suffolk County Community College’s Culinary Arts program students and volunteers today prepared about 200 Thanksgiving dinners for Community Action Southold Town’s Greenport food pantry in what has become an annual celebratory undertaking for the college’s culinary program and its students, faculty and CAST volunteers.
This year’s happy undertaking marks the 11th year that dozens of the college’s culinary students and faculty volunteered their culinary expertise to execute the holiday cooking for neighbors in the community.
Students from the culinary and baking, hospitality, dietetic technician and licensed practical nursing programs, joined faculty chefs, college staff and administrators and community volunteers to prepare and individually package Thanksgiving meals whose ingredients are provided by CAST.
This is the third year Suffolk’s Culinary program has worked with CAST, a not-for-profit that has worked in Southold Town since 1965 to help low-income residents meet basic needs in the areas of nutrition, employment, energy, and education. CAST exists as a safety net for Southold Town families from Laurel to Orient Point, including Fishers Island. The majority of CAST’s funding comes from the generosity of the community.
A report circulating on Facebook warning people about “human trafficking” at the Tanger Outlets mall in Riverhead is “unsubstantiated,” Riverhead Town Police Chief David Hegermiller said today.
Riverhead police have not received any report of the alleged incident that’s being shared on Facebook this week, Hegermiller said.
The anonymous Facebook post, titled “Human Trafficing [sic] is real” says a woman shopping with her infant child was followed by a woman and then a group of men at the Riverhead outlet mall. Written in the first person, the post says the strangers followed her from store to store and surrounded her at one of the center’s food courts.
“I felt as if they were waiting for my husband to walk away so we immediately get up to leave realizing something wasn’t right. As we leave I see the men drop their food and follow behind us. We were lucky to have put together what was going on and be able to get to our car safely with our baby,” the post says, then asks people to “PLEASE share this around.”
The post has, in fact, been shared hundreds of times on Facebook.
But no one reported the alleged incident to Riverhead police, Hegermiller said. The police department became aware of the post and are looking into it, the chief said.
“It sounds familiar,” Hegermiller said, noting that last fall another Facebook post made the rounds about a man stalking mothers and children in the Riverhead Target parking lot.
Anyone who encounters suspected illegal activity of any kind should always call police to report it, Hegermiller said. Reports should be made to the police department at 631-727-4500.
Four people were arrested Wednesday night during a stepped-up enforcement effort by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s DWI Task Force, Riverhead Town Police said.
Members of the Riverhead Police Department, Westhampton Beach Police Department and Quogue Village Police Department conducted the DWI enforcement, which included two sobriety checkpoints, police said.
Arrested and charged during the overnight enforcement period were:
Paul V. Corpas-Reyes, 31, of Mastic, was charged with Felony Driving While Intoxicated and unlawful possession of marijuana;
Samantha A. McNiff, 30, of Manorville, was charged with Driving While Intoxicated;
Roberto Alfieri, 29, of Riverhead, was charged with Driving While Intoxicated;
Julio C. Gutierrez Agosto, 25, of Flanders, was arrested on a Riverhead Justice Court bench warrant.
All four subjects were transported to the Riverhead Police Department where they were processed and held awaiting a.m. arraignment, police said.
Enforcement details such as these are a continuing joint effort that are held throughout the year.
Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
A Manorville man was stabbed in a road-rage incident Thursday afternoon, according to Suffolk County Police.
The 44-year-old man was driving a 2017 Hyundai northbound on Wading River Road when a man driving a 2010 grey Volvo, who had been driving erratically and attempting to pass multiple vehicles, attempted to pass his vehicle at the intersection at South Street.
The man believed his vehicle was struck by the Volvo and pulled into a parking lot on the corner of South Street and Wading River Road to inspect it. The driver of the Volvo also stopped his vehicle and engaged in a physical altercation with the victim and stabbed him once in the abdomen at 2:37 p.m., according to a press release issued by police Thursday evening.
The suspect fled in his vehicle eastbound on South Street, according to police.
The victim, whose identity was not released by police, was transported by Manorville Community Ambulance to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The victim’s wife was also in the vehicle but was not injured, according to the police report.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on this incident to call the Seventh Squad at 631-852-8752 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.
Suffolk County Police will hold a property auction Wednesday at at 9:30 a.m. at the SCPD property section building, 30 Yaphank Avenue in Yaphank.
Among the items being auctioned are jewelry, cell phones, televisions, Christmas decorations, bicycles and motorcycle parts. Motor vehicles and motorcycles will not be sold at this auction.
A preview of select items will be held on Tuesday between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. at the property section building.
The event will be held rain or shine and all items will be sold in “as is” condition. All purchases are subject to New York State sales tax. Payments must be made in cash. In the event of severe weather, check the department’s website, www.suffolkpd.org http://www.suffolkpd.org/ or call 631-852-6685 for schedule changes.
Ever wonder what it is like to work as a police officer? Ever wonder who the men and women are that keep the residents of Southampton Town safe?
Civilians can experience what the men and women of law enforcement do on a daily basis by enrolling in Southampton Town Police Department’s civilian academy.
The 14-week civilian academy starts Jan. 22. It will take place one night per week, from 6 to 9:30 p.m.
Southampton Town residents will have first preference to attend. Non-residents may enroll as space allows. Seats are limited.
To apply, contact Lt. Susan Ralph via email at Sralph@southamptontownny.gov. A short application will be
emailed or mailed to you. Completed applications will be accepted until Dec. 27.
Riverhead Little League is offering a Challenger Division for the first time this year.
The division provides opportunities to play ball for children with intellectual or physical challenges who can’t otherwise participate in Little League.
“Some kids really love baseball and don’t have an opportunity to play the game themselves,” Riverhead Little League president Jeremy Savio said. “Other kids, all they want is to put on a uniform and play with their friends. This will give boys and girls of all abilities the chance to experience the game as a player and have fun.”
Flexibility and adaptability are key during Challenger games, according to Little League International. Typically, games are one to two innings long and last about an hour. All players play defensively and bat every inning. Players can hit off a tee or coaches can pitch to them, depending on the individual player’s capability.
Coaches and other volunteers — called “buddies” — will be on the field to assist and guide players and ensure their safety.
Riverhead Little League is the first league in District 36 — which covers Suffolk County east of Route 112 — to charter a Challenger Division.
“We felt the time was right to take this next step,” Savio said. “We take pride that we offer the whole community the chance to participate regardless of skill level or financial ability. This was one thing we hadn’t touched yet,” Savio said.
The league hopes to field two teams, he said. Even though Riverhead Little League is chartered for Riverhead Town, the league will be able to enroll nonresidents in the Challenger Division, Savio said.
“We can do it with 14 to 20 kids, but whatever it is we’ll make it work,” he said. “We’re really excited about this.”
The Challenger Division open to boys and girls ages 5 to 12. Registration will begin in December and run through February, Savio said. The season begins in April and concludes at the end of June. The registration fee for this division is $55.
Riverhead Little League registration (all divisions) opens Dec. 1. For more information, visit the Riverhead Little League website.
Questions about the Challenger Division may be directed to league officials by email here.
