Local lovers of the environment and civil rights will band together tomorrow night for the first-ever meeting of the East End Greens in Riverhead.
Though members of any political party are welcome to attend and join, the meeting will largely be guided by the principles of the Green Party: Social justice, grassroots democracy, ecological wisdom and nonviolence.
“We hope this will be a coming together of like-minded people – people who are dedicated to these principles,” said Celeste Tracy, an Aquebogue resident and Green Party member who is one of the organizers of the meeting.
A long-time independent voter, Tracy recently registered with the Green Party after she found that its values closely aligned with her own. “When I read the platform, I said to myself, ‘Where has this party been all my life?’” she recalled.
Tracy connected with Ian Wilder, secretary of Suffolk County’s chapter of the Green Party, and proposed a meeting on the East End. Wilder recently moved to Riverhead from Babylon, where he had formed a similar organization, Babylon Greens, with his wife Kimberly.
“There’s so many wonderful green groups further west,” Tracy said. “Why not have something on the East End?”
She believes that many local hot-button issues could benefit from some input from the Green Party.
“The environment is a big topic on the East End,” Tracy said. “One of the pillars of the Green Party is ecological wisdom, and I think it’s important to have a presence on the East End, where environmental conservation is such a big issue.”
A clearer direction for the new organization will likely come out of the meeting tomorrow, where attendees will be invited to share their thoughts and ideas that will shape the group’s mission statement.
“We’re basically trying to mobilize like minds together to see how we can benefit our local region,” Tracy said. “It will be a very collegial atmosphere.”
The group’s inaugural meeting will take place Wednesday evening from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Green Earth Grocery in Riverhead. The event will be a “meet and greet” open to the public, with no RSVP required.
For more information, Tracy can be reached at cbenjamintracy@gmail.com and Wilder at ianwilder7@gmail.com.
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