From left, Iris and Cayla Rosenhagen with participants of the Beach Bucket Brigade. Photo by Raina Angelier
A participant of the 2021 Beach Bucket Brigade. Photo by Raina Angelier
From left, Cayla and Iris Rosenhagen. Photo by Raina Angelier
Participants of the 2021 Beach Bucket Brigade. Photo by Raina Angelier
Participants of the 2021 Beach Bucket Brigade. Photo by Raina Angelier
By Cayla Rosenhagen
Cayla Rosenhagen
Smiles abounded on Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai during the Children’s Bird Walk and Beach Clean-Up on August 21st. Run by me and my sister through our education program, Beach Bucket Brigade, the event brought 20 children aged 4 to 12 and their families together to participate in fun, nature-themed activities.
To kick off the program, we gathered on the beach to play ‘Sparrow Says,’ and read a book about our incredible avian life here on Long Island. Soon after, participants took to the paved nature trail to learn about and observe these birds in their natural surroundings. The children were delighted to see and hear mockingbirds, sparrows, catbirds, Mourning Doves, and cardinals.
Litter poses an immense danger to these birds as well as other local wildlife. Animals can get tangled up in it, or even ingest it, leading to heartbreaking outcomes.
After observing such an abundance of wildlife, the families were motivated to do something to protect them, and so began the beach clean-up. Equipped with gloves and beach buckets to collect litter, we scoured the beach. We found a variety of improperly disposed-of waste including throw-away plastic utensils and straws, fishing lines, and lots of cigarettes.
At the end of the clean-up, we thanked the families for volunteering their time and told them they were heroes for doing their part to protect our environment. As a token of our gratitude, we gave the families eco-friendly souvenirs to take home with them.
The event was a great success. We collected an enormous amount of litter, all the while giving kids and their families an educational, entertaining, and fun-filled day to remember. Our hope is that by observing the wonder of nature firsthand, the younger generation will gain an even better appreciation and respect for it.
To keep an eye out for our upcoming programs, please follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/BeachBucketBrigade.
Cayla Rosenhagen is a local high school student who enjoys capturing the unique charm of the community through photography and journalism. She serves on the board of directors for the Four Harbors Audubon Society and Brookhaven’s Youth Board, and is the founder and coordinator of Beach Bucket Brigade, a community outreach program dedicated to environmental awareness, engagement, and education. She is also an avid birder, hiker, and artist who is concurrently enrolled in college, pursuing a degree in teaching.
We are proud to present our second Times Beacon Record News Media Artist Coloring Book contest winners. Our intentions for the coloring book and contest was to offer our local art community grand exposure by fostering appreciation for the arts, as well as providing an enriching cultural experience for our audience.
We are grateful to Bank of America as our Coloring Book partner, to all the artists who contributed a beautiful gallery of sketches and to our coloring contest participants who submitted beautifully colored drawings, as well as our voters. Look for the winner’s colored masterpieces in select Bank of America financial centers.To see the rest of the contestant’s entries, visit our TBR Facebook page: facebook.com/tbrbewsmedia and check out the photo galleries.
Congratulations to all our winners!
Category 1: Ages 5-12
Winner
Mia Radi
COLORIST
Mia Radi, 5, Suffolk County
‘Nova’ by Marlene Bezich
1. What did you think of the coloring book?
“It Looked Beautiful.”
2. Why did you select this drawing to color?
“I chose to color the doggie because my Nanny and Poppy have a doggie. Her name is Cali.”
3. What are your other hobbies?
“I like to play with Anthony. I love to play with my Mommy. I like to do Art.”
Marlene Bezich with her dog Nova
ARTIST
Marlene Bezich, Port Jefferson
‘Nova’
1. What did you like about the winning colorist’s submission?
“First of all for a five year old her color understanding is amazing!!!Color is very important to me in my artwork, I love Mia’s color choices!She has successfully juxtapositioned complimentary colors to create a delight to the eye!!!!Under further examination I feel that wrapping Nova in an orange background gives Nova’s spirit a feeling of love and warmth.Her blue face indications “true blue” loyalty, and her green chest a sign of rebirth!I noticed she stayed well between the lines displaying a very organized personality!!! Her family should be truly proud of her!!!!”
2. What was your inspiration for the drawing?
“Nova is my sister’s dog who they rescued from the Brookhaven Town Shelter.She is the sweetest most loyal companion anyone could want.Her markings are stunning, so as an animal lover I just had to capture her!Hopefully this should be an example of the many wonderful dogs and cats available for adoption!They deserve a chance too!!”
3. What did you think of the coloring book?
“I loved the coloring book!!! So many different subjects and styles!!! I’m so proud to be among the many talented artists who participated.A Big THANK YOU for including us!!!!!!!”
4. What are your other hobbies?
“I love gardening and cooking!”
Runner Up
Junior Rivas
COLORIST
Junior Rivas, 11, Central Islip
‘KAMAHAMEHA!!!’ by Clara Heller
Why did you select this drawing to color?
“Out of all the pictures to choose from, this was my favorite because I like Dragon Ball Z and Goku.”
ARTIST
Clara Heller, Port Jefferson
‘KAMAHAMEHA!!!’
What was your inspiration for the drawing?
“I grew up drawing, and I grew up watching Toonami, especially Dragon Ball Z. I stopped drawing regularly as I got older, but when the pandemic hit and I suddenly had all this free time, I thought I’d give it another try. And what better subject than that of my favorite childhood anime! I’m just happy other people appreciate Goku as much as I do!”
Category 2: Ages 13-19
Winner
Rebecca Fear
COLORIST
Rebecca Fear, 19, South Setauket
‘Nature’s Healing Spirit’ by Iris Rosenhagen
1. What did you think of the coloring book?
“ I loved this coloring book because it included some beautiful pieces from different talented artists that brought a lot of positivity to me during this past year.”
2. Why did you select this drawing to color?
“I chose the piece Nature’s Healing Spirit because during this past year it’s important for everyone to find something to heal themselves during these difficult times. Through this coloring page I was able to use many vibrant colors and intricate detail. Coloring is relaxing for me and helped me heal during a stressful time. While coloring this page I had my newly adopted dog on my lap, which was also calming for me.”
3. What are your other hobbies?
“My other hobbies are singing, dancing, coloring, drawing, acting and volunteering.”
Iris Rosenhagen
ARTIST
Iris Rosenhagen, Selden
‘Nature’s Healing Spirit’
1. What did you like about the winning colorist’s submission?
“I love Rebecca’s use of jewel tones. The colors that she used and her out of the box thinking for how to apply them are very much how I envisioned it had I colored it.”
2. What was your inspiration for the drawing?
“The subject of my drawing was inspired by this past year. Everyone has faced many challenges and fortunately nature has been an incredibly therapeutic outlet for healing.”
3. What did you think of the coloring book?
“Everyone’s art is just so beautiful, and I’m honored to be a part of it. In addition to Mother Nature being one of the best healers, so is art, and it’s wonderful that the community had this opportunity to experience and create art together.”
4. What are your other hobbies?
“Some of my other hobbies include yoga, holistic healing, vegan cooking, eco-activism, birding, and hiking.”
Runner Up
COLORIST
Ella Psaltos, 16, Port Washington
‘Let’s Clean Up!’ by Bina Firestone
Why did you select this drawing to color?
“I chose that image because it reminded me of an old cartoon.”
ARTIST
Bina Firestone, Port Jefferson Station
‘Let’s Clean Up!’
What was your inspiration for the drawing?
“The drawing was from a watercolor I had recently completed. I had wanted to create a winter scene, but something different than a pristine and peaceful landscape. I started out with the idea of sending a snowplow through a residential neighborhood. Then I remembered how, after a snow, all the neighbors would emerge from their homes, and the street would become a hive of activity, so I added the people to the scene.”
Category 3: Ages 20+
Winner
COLORIST
Hedi Flickstein, Coram
‘Lily’ by Christopher Reisman
1. What did you think of the coloring book?
“It was very good. I wish more of the drawings had white space to color.”
2. Why did you select this drawing to color?
“It was a very beautiful rendition of the picture.I wanted to add things like eyeshadow, lipstick and nail polish.She needed some beautification.”
3. What are your other hobbies?
“Senior groups, school related groups, Legislative groups, groups that help the handicapped.”
Christopher Reisman
ARTIST
Christopher Reisman, Shoreham
‘Lily’
1. What did you like about the winning colorist’s submission?
“I love theway the artist took Lily to a new look and dressed her up a bit. Fabulous!”
2. What was your inspiration for the drawing?
“My inspiration for the drawing came from a picture in the New York Times Magazine section several years ago. I fell in love with the pose and the mystique of the lady. I added the flowers and Lily was born.”
3. What did you think of the coloring book?
“I think the coloringbook gives a wonderful view of fine art by Long Island artists. I think this should be very inspiring to a lot of people. What a great way to add more beauty into the world, which the world really needs.”
4. What are your other hobbies?
“My other hobbies are making music, sewing and gardening and taking care of our wonderful magic sanctuary every day. Actually my sewing is more than a hobby. It is a great creativejoyful experience for me to design and make one of a kind wearable art. I love it.”
Runner Up
COLORIST
Evelyn Rose, 78, Smithtown
‘Nature’s Healing Spirit’ by Iris Rosenhagen
Why did you select this drawing to color?
“She was very whimsical!”
ARTIST
Iris Rosenhagen
‘Nature’s Healing Spirit’
What was your inspiration for the drawing?
“In addition to being inspired by nature, I was inspired by the future colorists.I love the idea of someone interacting with my art.The opportunity of two creative energies coming together is so motivating to me.”
And there’s more!Six Long Island nonprofits, chosen by the winners & artists,will share $10,000 in community funding from Bank of America.
Cayla and Iris Rosenhagen pose for a photo during a beach cleanup at Cedar Beach last August. Photo by Kyle Barr
Approximately 8 million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the oceans each year, according to the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy. Long Islanders have seen what plastic waste can do to their waterways and beaches firsthand.
Cayla and Iris Rosenhagen, two 14-year-old twins from Selden, wanted to change that and in July 2019 they created a beach cleanup initiative fittingly called the Beach Bucket Brigade.
Throughout the summer, the duo hosted seven beach cleanups, and with the help of about 300 volunteers they were able to remove more than 23,500 pieces of litter off Long Island beaches — 45 percent of that was plastic waste.
The sisters said now that they are not too focused and busy planning events, they’ve been able to reflect on the success they’ve accomplished these past few months.
“We are ecstatic, everything has gone so well, and everyone has been so supportive of us,” Cayla said.
From a young age, the sisters have had a keen interest in the environment, nature and animals. They said they would go out on their own and do cleanups and wanted to see if they could get more people involved.
“They really thought of everything, they’ve done this all on their own and really made their vision a reality.”
– Jane Bonner
“We had the idea for a couple of months and we wanted to find a way to get the community involved,” Iris said. “We reached out to the Town [of Brookhaven] and they liked what we had in mind.”
Brookhaven Councilman Kevin LaValle (R-Selden) said it was great seeing young people take the initiative for a good cause.
“The presentation they gave us was so well done, we were immediately all on board and wanted to help in any way we could,” LaValle said. “It has been a great collaboration and the whole program/initiative really sets up well for the future.”
One of the events hosted by the twins included a Beach Bucket Brigade Books at the Beach event that involved a story time for young kids before heading out to clean the beach. At all cleanups, for each bucket of trash volunteers returned they were given a raffle ticket in which they could win eco-friendly prizes, recycled toys and products donated by a number of local businesses.
“They really thought of everything,” said Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point), who attended one of the beach cleanups at Cedar Beach back in August. “They’ve done this all on their own and really made their vision a reality.”
For the duo’s effort, the town honored them by making Sept. 12 Cayla and Iris Rosenhagen Day. They also appointed them to the youth board, which advises the Brookhaven Youth Bureau about issues affecting young people.
The twin sisters said they have already begun formulating ideas and events for next spring and summer. They also stressed that there are small things people can do to alleviate the abundance of plastic waste.
“What kind of eco-friendly [New Year’s] resolution are you going to make?” they said. “Everybody can do their part and cut out the amount of plastic they use.”
Like LaValle, Bonner has been impressed with what the Rosenhagen twins have accomplished.
“We have been blown away by their presence and passion, this is not the last time you will hear of Cayla and Iris — they are going places and they have a bright future,” Bonner said.
To find more information about Beach Bucket Brigade and future events visit their Facebook page.
COLORIST
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