Community Corner

Polo Tourney to Benefit Sandy-Damaged Summer Camp

June 22 fundraiser set at 4-H camp on Sound Avenue.

Polo has been pitched at Enterprise Park at Calverton a few times in the past, and while no headway seems imminent in the near future on the project at the town-owned land, one polo match will be coming to town in the near future.

Organized as a fundraiser for Cornell Cooperative of Nassau County, a polo tournament featuring four-person teams will be taking place on Saturday, June 22 at the 4-H camp – leased by the organization since the mid 1950s, and owned by the camp's founder for another 30 years prior – on Sound Avenue.

Executive Director Laura Hunsberger said that extensive damage on the property was sustained from Superstorm Sandy last fall, much of which wasn't covered by the organization's insurance. And in order to prepare the camp for its summer programs, which start on July 1, the organization converted a former hay field to a polo field for the fundraiser.

Hunsberger said part of the property is also leased to a man who raises polo ponies, so the idea seemed worth a shot.

The fundraiser comes as Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau has recently been forced to implement unpaid furloughs due to a lack of funding. Funding was cut from the county in 2009, Hunsberger said, and while the CCE took over operations at an East Meadow farm in 2010, the added facility has burdened the organization that much more since taking over. So much so, that the farm will be closed for eight days it otherwise would have been open from June through September.

The June 22 fundraiser, however, will directly benefit work done to the Riverhead camp, which runs eight weeks long. Cost to the polo match – which will also have live music, food, vendors, and more – is $50 in advance, and $60 the day of.

Correction: This article previously stated that the Cooperative Extension owns the land it operates on Sound Avenue. It leases the property.


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