Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce President Alex Gallego is showing that "Together We Can Do It", their motto. He said at the Thursday, April 17 meeting at the Matinecock Lodge, "People vote with their money." He was talking about the support he received from Donald Ploetner of BMW of Oyster Bay when he donated $675 to sponsor Cruise Nights. "They understand we are getting things done. Time is important and money is time," he said. While he was at Mr. Ploetner's office he brought him together with Ultimate Detail and, in another instance, hooked up Tom Golon with an insurance company. Chamber Vice President Paige Dawson, he said, is looking for a house for someone. "We all have to do that. The chamber is about doing business," said Mr. Gallego.

He introduced the other team members, Secretary Michele Browner, Les Schachter, head of marketing; Muir deGuzman, events chair; and John McEvoy who is working on their student mentor program.

Muir deGuzman reported on the beautification program which included preparations for the Earth Day cleanup in the hamlet and at the waterfront on April 26. The Friends of the Bay, Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce, the Oyster Bay Civic Association (who were providing beverages and snacks at the Gazebo), and the Main Street Association all were involved in the efforts. They were looking forward to their Spring Splendor event on Monday, April 28 at Wild Honey to raise funds for hanging baskets for Audrey Avenue lampposts. They are also purchasing banners with historic themes for the street posts. Issac Kremer, Main Street Association executive director, said he had already received calls from 28 people to attend the Spring Splendor and that they had already raised $5,200. Seventy people is the goal for the event in time for Mother's Day. They plan to hang the baskets in town.

Michele Browner commented they want bike racks put up in the hamlet. "There are too many hooked on to the trees and they are becoming a nuisance." They are also considering outdoor ash trays for the streets, as a way of cleaning up the area.

"Dodds & Eder has been unbelievably instrumental in keeping the town beautiful," said Muir deGuzman. They are going to build a flowerbed and a trellis at the welcome sign on Route 106, and will maintain the site.

On the theme of keeping the hamlet looking beautiful, Ellen Roché is adopting a spot at the water district building and Andrew Pascoe is adopting the town's human resources building area.

President Alex Gallego said the Oyster Bay post office, according to the hamlet study, is the most widely visited spot in the hamlet. He spoke to the Oyster Bay Postmaster Dioenis Perez who he said is willing and eager to fix the exterior of the building. Mr. Perez, Mr. Gallego and MSA will partner together and find a local landscaper who will donate services to refurbish the outside of the post office. "Dee said he would commit to see that the landscape improvements are well-kept," said Mr. Gallego. Les Schachter suggested that should include repainting the parking stall stripes.

Mr. Gallego said he walked around the hamlet with Steve Marx, executive assistant to supervisor John Venditto, pointing out what needs fixing. "We are taking our town back, with the OBCA, OBCC and MSA working together and speaking with one voice," he said.

Austin Azzaretto is working with Paige Dawson, Bob Basta, Bob Martin, Joe Mimmo and Chris Masone to keep up the momentum on Cruise Night, Tuesdays on Audrey Avenue, May 6 through Oct. 7.

Walter Imperatore, saying he represents three entities: Renaissance Properties, Buckingham's, and the Oyster Bay Marine Center asked if boats could become a part of Cruise Night. "We're open to anything," said Mr. Azzaretto.

Mr. Imperatore said Claire Bellerjeau (manager of Buckingham's Variety store) suggested another night be chosen to visit to the WaterFront Center and show movies on an inflatable screen. "The idea is great. We just need people to do it," said Mr. Azzaretto.

Muir deGuzman said there are several events in the planning. One will be the day the flower baskets are hung; another is a block party at the park to benefit the Oyster Bay Chamber Sports Chest to help refurbish the sports fields. They will have a parade and hot dogs and popcorn for the kids and families.

The next Business After Hours will be a cocktail reception hosted by manager Paul Rosen at Oyster Bay Manor and Harbor House on May 28: Michele Browner works there.

Then, the next Business After Hours events will be: at Appliance World; Fiddleheads; and in August at the WaterFront Center where it will include a cruise on the Christeen. After that the event will be hosted by Aflac Insurance.

The annual Health Fair takes place on May 17 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Audrey Avenue. (There is a May 18 rain date.) The poster for the event was made by NYS Senator Carl Marcellino's Albany office. Chamber members will be giving them out to local businesses for display. The Health Fair will start with the 3rd annual Brooke Jackman Race. Volunteers are needed for the set up of the fair, that starts at about 6 a.m. Saturday morning. The event is about two weeks away.

The Health Fair will feature a new offering: Isaac Kremer, Main Street Association executive director, will lead a guided walk through the village at noon and 2 p.m.

There will be an Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce booth run by Paige Dawson where they will be promoting "Oyster Bay the Walkable Community" by giving out pedometers. It will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Georgia Gier, local resident and Earth Science teacher, will be there promoting a healthy environment.

The chamber is already thinking about the winter holidays. They have put a deposit on 30 more snowflakes that will be installed from the Hess Station to Stop & Shop, said Michele Browner. Their spring and winter events are six months apart, she added. "The events are an excuse to socialize, and to continue to re-vitalize the hamlet," said Ms. Browner, adding that the Rotary Club and the Oyster Bay Civic Association are joining in the efforts.

Les Schachter told members that they all had marketing opportunities at the Health Fair, and Cruise Nights. They have need of major sponsors who can have their company banner out on poles for the events. He said, without too much difficulty they can set up braces on the poles to hold them.

Members can also market their businesses in the program guides for the events.

Mr. Schachter said last year he talked to Tim Archdeacon about a Boats & Blues event: a boat show in the park and a Blues Show on the stage. It would be a summer event, and he said they were thinking about it.

Alex Gallego commented that email is the greatest boon and bane of society. Mr. Schachter added there is a new syndrome - email bankruptcy. It is when a person is so overcome with the number of emails they have to process - they just erase them all out. He offered some email etiquette.

Mr. Schechter said the subject line is most important - if there is none, he deletes the email. He added that spammers often put nothing in those places. He said that even worse is the custom of putting in the subject line: "please read this." It is useless.

Mr. Schechter said his email is arranged so that all Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce mail goes into a chamber folder.

He had another hint for the subject line. When answering an email you can do so in the subject line and add EOM, (end of message) so the person doesn't have to open up the email - thereby saving time. He added, if a message is short don't put it into an attachment - put it on the email. That method makes it much easier for people to access the information.

Mr. Gallego showed another chamber marketing coup, holding up a copy of Hamptons magazine. He received a call from Hamptons magazine for an interview and instead he suggested other businesses that could be highlighted resulting in a double page spread about the town, including stories on Canterbury Ales, Chrison & Bellisima, Wild Honey, the WaterFront Center and the Stevenson Academy. "Just go out and spread the word," he said.

Michele Browner said membership renewals are coming in and offered two places for members to advertise on the chamber's website. There is a rotating banner for $100 and a square ad for $150.

John McEvoy is working with the student mentor business partnership with Sarah Anderson at the Oyster Bay High School. They are planning a Career Awareness Day on Tuesday, May 13, from 8 a.m. to noon. It is following the speed-dating concept. Students sit in a group of three and the presenters go from group to group talking about their business. The concept is to give the youngsters a chance to see all the businesses in town and can then talk to anyone from a career they are interested in pursuing. The students have an assignment to write about the day and to talk to their teachers about it.

The chamber, as a business organization, is also interested in letting the community know what is available locally. "We want consumers to know what is in Oyster Bay. To encourage the mindset of finding it in town," said Mr. Gallego.

Paige Dawson reported on the Oyster Festival to be held the weekend of Oct. 18 and 19. This will be the 25th Oyster Festival and the chamber is working closely with the Rotary Club of Oyster Bay, the organizers of the annual event, said Paige Dawson. "We are hoping for more local participation on Audrey Avenue. It will again be the gateway to the Oyster Fest with the balloon entry on South Street and Audrey Avenue.

"We couldn't do without Mark Fox of Canterbury Ales," she said. They plan on using funds from the Oyster Festival for plants and bike racks. Ms. Dawson said, "Rotary makes a donation to both the Snowflake and Spring Splendor events and we work with them."

The chamber's TR Museum steering committee is working closely with the TRA to plan it out - "If it is going to be," said Ms. Dawson. They are working with Issac Kremer of the Main Street Association, Bill Sheeline of the MSA and Bill Von Novak of the OBCA. Ms. deGuzman worked with MSA during the Dan Burden interview process as a facilitator.

Georgia Gier, an Oyster Bay resident was the guest speaker at the April 17, Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce meeting held at the Matinecock Lodge. An Earth Science teacher in East Meadow, she was one of 20,000 applicants who applied to work on the Al Gore climate project. Ms. Gier said she is happy that her son is growing up in Oyster Bay and added, "I see a turnaround here. I'm happy seeing businesses coming back. I'm thankful as a resident as well as a customer."

Ms. Gier said she took two and a half days "personal time" from her teaching job to take the intensive training needed to join the Al Gore Climate Change Project. She saw 380 slides in three hours, and then saw them again with scientists explaining what was implied with each slide. You can see the slides on The Climate Project.org, she said. Ms. Gier said, as a volunteer, she receives new slides updating the material all the time.

Ms. Gier said the awareness of global warming and what causes it was discovered when scientists noted that the average temperature on Earth was 59 degrees; on Mars, a negative 67 degrees; and on Venus, 855 degrees but on Mercury - which is closer to the sun - 333 degrees, a lot cooler than Venus. That started scientists thinking and when they analyzed the data from the Mercury and Venus Probes they discovered that Venus has a thick atmosphere that traps the heat and therefore, heats up that planet.

She said since the Industrial Revolution we have been generating higher rates of carbon dioxide and she said, "CO2 and temperature seem to go together according to studies in ice cores from Antarctica. Because we have more people on the planet than ever - about 6.5 billion and growing, plus technology, we are creating more carbon dioxide."

She showed a chart that predicted the carbon dioxide on the planet over the next few decades. She said by 2050 they expect a 3 percent rise in temperature, and said, "We have an option, we can reduce the rate of growth." While a red line spiked up to the top of the chart, a yellow line fell below it demonstrating that the world can change the rate of the planet heating up.

Ms. Gier said, "Be the change you want to see in the world," quoting Mahatma Ghandi.

She asked, "Do we want 70 days of over 90 degrees and 20 days at over 100 degrees?" She said this area of the eastern seaboard could end up having the climate of Georgia or Virginia as shown by spring arriving earlier each year.

She showed slides of the Larsen Ice Shelf that began to break off on Jan. 31, 2002 and continued for the next 35 days. A worse scenario happened in March of 2008 when the Wilkins Ice Shelf broke off along the West Antarctic Peninsula. That break off was expected 15 years from now.

What people can do, she said, is to calculate your carbon footprint and reduce it. [Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi is doing that in Levittown where he has a light bulb exchange program. Residents traded incandescent bulbs for free energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use 75 percent less electricity and last 10 times longer than the old-fashioned bulbs.]

Ms. Gier said, "The important thing is to try. We can do better than we are doing now. Lofty goals create achievement."

She said little changes can help, as when her son turns off the water while brushing his teeth. "Wal-Mart is changing their packaging and will save $3.8 billion. Patagonia marketed their thermal underwear on hangers instead of packages in spite of the nay-sayers, and their sales went up 40 percent. People know you are supporting the effort."

Supermarkets are now offering customers bags (sometimes free or at a low cost) to encourage them not to use plastic bags.

She said, "At Dunkin' Donuts if you bring in a refillable cup you pay less for coffee. Whole Foods takes 10 cents off your order if you use Whole Foods bags."

Ms. Gier said the Roosevelt Elementary School site-based team has organized a paper recycling program. They earned $800. She said paper takes up 42 percent of the space in landfills. It takes 390 gallons of oil to produce one ton of paper.

She suggested that LIPA has a program to lower energy costs through changing fixtures and HVAC units. You can go to LIpower.org for information on the program.

Ms. Gier said the Town of Oyster Bay recycles 10 percent of its waste, a very small percentage she commented.

She suggested companies develop internal collection programs; she suggested reducing junk mail through a national program; use the TOB Stop Throwing Out Pollutants program; use florescent light bulbs. She said, "You can't throw them into the garbage, but can bring them to Ikea where they collect light bulbs and batteries for recycling."

She said tennis shoes can be recycled for playgrounds. She suggested the hamlet might put in trash cans dedicated for cans only, especially at the beach.

Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce board member John McEvoy said the computer industry, of which he is a part with his Scicom Computer Services business, is known for recycling machines.

Walter Imperatore of Renaissance Properties said they are changing the bulbs in spotlights. The new bulbs last longer and pay back their cost in savings in two to three years.

Ms. Gier, who lives in the hamlet, said she used the plastic shrink wrap sold in hardware stores on her windows during the winter and cut her oil bill in half. "It's so clear you can't see it," she said.

Michele Browner said, "The chamber is going green." She said Stop & Shop is recycling plastic bags. She said she donates older computers to children in the community who need one. "I partnered with the Hispanic Cultural Center with used computers and monitors."

President Alex Gallego said enthusiastically - "We'll change the chamber logo to green!" It was too late, said Michele Browner, new items have already been ordered for the Health Fair on May 17, in Oyster Bay-blue. But they can go green in their intensions, they agreed.