Mastic Beach Conservancy raises $50,000 at sold-out fifth annual Bivalve Ball

A crowd of 130 filled the Mastic Beach Property Owners Clubhouse on Saturday, Sept. 26, for the Mastic Beach Conservancy’s fifth annual Bivalve Ball, raising $50,000 for the organization’s work to protect, restore and open Long Island’s South Shore waterfront to the public.

The evening honored two figures who have changed how Long Island treats its own water. Adrienne Esposito, executive director and co-founder of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, received the Environmental Leadership Award. Balloon Mission, the volunteer-driven nonprofit that intercepts balloon litter before it reaches the water, received the Community Impact Award, accepted by founder Cynthia Seibold.

The Bivalve Ball is the Conservancy’s largest fundraiser of the year. Proceeds underwrite oyster and kelp seeding in Narrow Bay, horseshoe crab monitoring, native plantings and invasive removal, the Ecology Art Lab, and continued progress toward publicly accessible blue and green trails around the Mastic peninsula.

“Five years ago, this was a group of volunteers with rakes and a vision for what our shoreline could be,” said Maura Spery, president, Mastic Beach Conservancy. “On Saturday night, we were in a room with people who decided that vision was worth supporting. That is the whole story of this organization. Every dollar raised goes back into the water, the marsh, and the programs that get our neighbors out onto both.”

The Honorees

Environmental Leadership Award: Adrienne Esposito

Presented by Conservancy President Maura Spery, the Environmental Leadership Award recognized four decades of front-line advocacy in New York’s environmental fights. Since co-founding Citizens Campaign for the Environment in 1985, Esposito has led campaigns on drinking water protection, toxic plume remediation, pesticide reduction, and large-scale renewable energy. She has been a persistent voice for the species that depend on Long Island’s shoreline. She chairs the New York Clean Water Coalition, founded and chairs the Fire Island Sewage Solution Coalition, co-chairs the Long Island Lobby Coalition, and was named one of the top ten influential Women of Water in the United States in 2020.

Community Impact Award: Balloon Mission

Presented by Conservancy Operations Manager Christie Jones, the Community Impact Award recognized Balloon Mission’s work to stop balloon litter at the source. Founder Cynthia Seibold launched the country’s first post-event balloon collection program in 2023, starting with three elementary schools and one public library. It now operates through more than 100 participating organizations across twelve states, and residents nationwide can mail in balloons.

Both honorees received custom awards handcrafted by local artist Jessamyn Go of Femme Sole, who also serves as the Conservancy’s Ecology Art lab director.

The Evening

Guests arrived to steel drums from Anderson Parris of the Next Level Band and a raw bar of local shellfish donated by Violet Cove Oyster Co. and Xanadu Oysters, the Narrow Bay sea farm run by Shan Mahmud and Luke Eddins. The night included an open-air grill, Long Island wine and beer, handcrafted cocktails, dancing to DJ Ray Knives and Kimbe Meares, and sunset over the bay. Keri Ann Moore interpreted the program in American Sign Language.

An in-room auction featured a private oyster farm tour with Sue Wicks of Violet Cove, a portrait session with photographer Jerônimo de Moraes, a bodywork session with Lorraine Gallagher, and two tickets to a sold-out John Mulaney show at the Blue Note. The online silent auction, open to the public through the night, drew bids on lots donated by more than 60 artisans and businesses.

What Comes Next

In five years, the Conservancy has gone from a neighborhood wetland cleanup to a partner that state and federal agencies take seriously. Its advocacy has helped catalyze millions in state and county funding to make Violet Cove a county park, along with a National Coastal Resilience Grant covering salt marsh habitat in southern Mastic Beach, the same wetlands that absorbed storm surge when Superstorm Sandy hit in 2012.

Funds raised at the Bivalve Ball carry that work into 2027, including:

• Expanded oyster and kelp seeding in Narrow Bay
• Horseshoe crab monitoring with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s New York Horseshoe Crab Monitoring Network
• Continued blue and green trail development around the Mastic peninsula
• Ecology Art Lab programming for local artists and students
• Volunteer cleanups, invasive plant removal and native plantings across the Mastic Beach and Shirley Conservation Area

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Scallop Sponsors:  Ørsted/Sunrise Wind and The Frances and Peter Robotti Foundation

Mussel Sponsor:  Haugland Energy Group

Clam Sponsors:  PSEG Long Island and Corinne Nevinny

Trailblazer Sponsors:  Antoinette Kenmuir-Evans, Karen Dunne Kesnig, Dan Panico, Suffolk County Legislator Jim Mazzarella, Robert Miller and The Nature Conservancy

Violet Cove Oyster Co., Xanadu Oysters, Isco Spirits, Cazcanes Tequila, Bedell Cellars, Macari Vineyards, Lucien Albrecht, Wölffer Estate Vineyard, and Westhampton Beach Brewing Company donated food and beverages.

The Conservancy also thanks the artisans, businesses, and individuals who donated to the silent auction and raffle, and the volunteers and committee members who produced the evening.

ABOUT MASTIC BEACH CONSERVANCY

Mastic Beach Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to the conservation and preservation of 6.5 miles of publicly accessible waterfront parkland in the Mastic Beach and Shirley Conservation Area. Through community cleanups, educational programming, trail advocacy and ecological restoration partnerships, the Conservancy works to protect Long Island’s South Shore wetlands for current and future generations. Learn more at masticbeachconservancy.org.