Gardiner County Park gets TLC

Islip Town and Suffolk County officials, Bay Shore schools, the Bay Shore Beautification Society and Keep Islip Clean are joining National Grid for a day of volunteering Thursday to carry out cleanup and maintenance duties at Gardiner County Park.

The Earth Day effort will put 70 National Grid volunteers to work in partnership with county park employees and community volunteers to rehabilitate parts of the West Bay Shore park’s trails, clean up fallen branches and debris, sand and stain benches, install fencing, paint and plant trees, officials said.

“We’ve invited the community to come, and student volunteers from Bay Shore schools, to help with the usual post-winter cleanup to spruce up the space,” said Gail Farrell, co-chair of the beautification society.

The effort is one of 12 “Earth Day-inspired” cleanup events that more than 700 National Grid employees will participate in throughout New York and New England, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Margulies.

National Grid has spent millions of dollars cleaning up toxic plumes, the result of a former LILCO-owned manufactured gas plant in Bay Shore.