Submitted by Tom Andersen on Tue, 10/13/2009 - 4:29pm
 |
| WLT Executive Director Ben Spinelli, left, discusses our involvement in the Bird acquisition, as Mayor Steve Otis of Rye looks on. (Photo courtesy of Sharon Pickett) |
October 13, 2009 -- We started working on preservation of the Bird Homestead in Rye two years ago, and had visited the property probably half-a-dozen times, so we were well familiar with its beauty.
But it was great to watch the delight on the faces of the dozens of visitors to the property on Friday as they encountered its many charms – the Greek Revival farmhouse, the vine-covered barn, the old grape arbor next to the back shed, Blind Brook and its marshes beyond – for the first time.
On Friday, the City of Rye, the Committee to Save the Bird Homestead, and Westchester Land Trust showed the property for the first time to the many funders and supporters who helped us buy and protect it (you can read why it’s important here and view a slide show of the property here; you can also read what the National Trust for Historic Preservation says about the project, here).
Those funders are the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (with the support of State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer), the Long Island Sound Stewardship Fund, Westchester County, the New York State Assembly (via Assemblyman George Latimer), Westchester Land Trust and the Committee to Save the Bird Homestead.
The Long Island Sound Stewardship contribution is the first money spent in New York from the stewardship fund, which was established by the federal government as a way to protect important areas near the Sound. As far as anyone can remember, it may also be the first federal money ever spent on land protection in Westchester County.
 |
| State Parks Commissioner Carol Ash and Mayor Otis, in front of the Bird farmhouse. (Photo courtesy of Alison Beall) |
Mayor Steve Otis served as host and master of ceremonies, and was generous with praise and gratitude.
Westchester Land Trust’s executive director, Ben Spinelli, spoke first and, like many of those who followed, stressed the importance of partnerships and said the Bird property could not have been acquired had different groups not worked together. He also said the acquisition was an important example of how Westchester land trust is trying to work in all parts of the county.
Among the other speakers were Westchester County Planning Commissioner Jerry Mulligan; Assemblyman Latimer; Senator Oppenheimer; Al Caccese, executive director of Audubon New York; Anne Stillman, the head of the Committee to Save the Bird Homestead; and Commissioner Carol Ash, of the state OPRHP.
Commissioner Ash said she was particularly thrilled that community groups had worked together to bring to the state a terrific project that officials might otherwise not have known about.
“We live for these projects,” she said.
So do we.