South Merrick Community Civic Association Forms Friends of Camman's Pond

At Tuesday's meeting of the South Merrick Community Civic Association (SMCCA), the group formed Friends of Camman's Pond Park, a sub-committee within the group to help with the maintenance of the South Merrick staple.

The group hosted Frank Camerlengo, deputy parks commissioner of Nassau County, to discuss what could be done to improve the look of the park. Camerlengo said that after a group is formed, he would be able to give them a list of what could and could not be done.

For example, Joe Baker, president of SMCCA, asked Camerlengo about the weeds that are growing in the park, to which Camerlengo said that he would work on getting them taken out, however, the County is not allowed to spray them since it is a protected area.

One bone of contention among residents is the amount of waste that the geese produce, which prevents them from enjoying the park as they are preoccupied on where they are stepping. Although Camerlengo told the crowd that the geese were protected, there was no resolution as to if the waste would be cleaned up or not. Resident Mimi Wanderman made a valid point, however, and said that people need to stop feeding the geese and that doing so is illegal, which would probably add to a decrease in geese at the location.

Baker also added that he conciders Camman's Pond "one of South Merrick's two jewels," and that making it beautiful makes members of the community happy. He cited an example at the meeting: Recently, SMCCAA put in a garden at the corner of Camman's pond and he spent the night after work weeding it last week. "People were honking their horns, giving me the thumbs up and saying 'it looks great!'," he said.

Camerlengo did say that having a Friends committee would make it easier to keep the park clean and that it makes a big difference for the County to know that it has the extra help.

"My commissioner will be thrilled that a Friends committee has been formed," he said.

In addition to the formation of the Friends of Camman's Pond Park, an update on the Merrick Road Improvement Committee (MRIC) was given.

Chairperson Jennifer Schlesinger said that the group has since planted a garden in the front of the 'Welcome to Merrick' sign and has cleaned up a few tree bases. In addition, TOM Salon and Mike and Marcos Landscaping were dubbed the Retailer of the Month for the landscaping that was done on the property.

To help make Merrick more beautiful, Mike and Marcos offered to donate their time to creating a garden at the Lakeside School sign as well as offered a donatation of 200 hanging baskets to stores on Merrick Road, if the store owners or someone else would agree to water them.