Fire Island National Seashore Hosts Mac-N-Cheese Challenge After Patchogue River Clean-Up

The annual Fire Island National Seashore Patchogue River Clean-Up took place earlier this month on Sept. 22, after which a Mac-N-Cheese Challenge took place at Drift 82 to determine the best mac-n-cheese in Patchogue. All the proceeds of the challenge will go to next year’s river clean-up.

The clean-up, which began at the Watch Hill Ferry Terminal, consisted of volunteers on boats, paddleboards and kayaks doing their best to clean up the river as a united community. Last year’s event produced over 550 pounds of garbage, cleaned up by about 100 volunteers. This was the third annual river clean-up hosted by FINS.

FINS park planner Kaetlyn Jackson said the Mac-N-Cheese Challenge was set up as revenue stream for the annual clean-up, which was funded by donations for supplies for the past two years. Jackson told Long Island Advance ahead of the clean-up that she hopes the mac-n-cheese “challenge will be an incentive for more people to come out and clean the community” in the years to come.

National Park Service, The Village of Patchogue and Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce hope the river clean-up will become a tradition that helps contribute to making the area the best it can be through public service, while connecting the Fire Island community in a deeper way through education.

After taking the Fire Island ferry over, we invite you to visit William J. Newman Realty. We have serviced Fire Island’s western communities since 1969 and offer the experience and professionalism to meet all real estate needs for people who want to take the Fire Island ferries over and stay on the Island for a few days or for the entire summer! We specialize in rentals from Fair Harbor to Dunewood, Lonelyville, and Saltaire.