Thirty-five people attended the 14th annual Winterfest celebration on Saturday, Jan. 8 at the Garden City Bird Sanctuary, Inc (GCBS).
John W. Cronin, the president of the board of directors, led the ceremony wherein all participants light green candles, symbolic of the new spring that will surely follow winter. The “Great Telling,” as this seasonal rite is called, is to remind everyone that “all winters must come to an end.” The winters to which that refers is not restricted to the chronological Dec. 21 to March 21, but it denotes the harsh times in our lives; winters of health problems, financial woes, and so on. The great religions of the world remind us that even the “winter” of death itself will yield to springtime of life to follow.
Cronin awarded the two Volunteers of the Year 2021 to Aderinwale (“Derin”) Aderemi and Amanda Sanchez. Both were members of Sessions of HOPE, an organization dedicated, as the acronym says, to “Helping Other People Everyday.”
Thanks to Sessions of HOPE, and to Derin and Amanda in particular, the GCBS was able to remain open most weekends this summer. Cronin announced that the Board of Directors had voted to try and assemble a “Volunteer Corp” that would work with the Board in keeping the site open every weekend from the end of April to the end of September 2022.
Anyone interested in volunteering may contact President Cronin at johnwcroningcbs@outlook.com. Cronin, who teaches at Garden City Middle School, was proud to have two former students, Kimberly Foxen and Tara Stephens, playing the guitar and singing at Winterfest.
Legislator Laura Schaefer presented citations of merit to the two honorees, as well as Sessions of HOPE. The event ended with the message “All Winters Must Come to an End” as everyone blew out the candles and dispersed until the next Winterfest, always held the second Saturday of January.
For more scene & seen event photos visit longislandpress.com/category/scene-seen.
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