Now in its 15th year, the Seatuck Environmental Association’s Bats & Brews Benefit is reaching beyond its signature bat focus for its key fundraiser on Oct. 19 on the wooded grounds of the Scully Estate in Islip.
As a benefit for Seatuck and its conservation work throughout Long Island, the annual event has long centered on bats (and brews), as the name suggests. But this year, according to Development Director Carolyn Foster, another Halloween season creature will be highlighted with a live demo by an expert, and it’s spiders. “He's actually bringing live spiders for people to take a look at while he teaches us about the different ins and outs of being a spider,” Foster said.
But don’t worry, the event stays true to its food, beer, and wine roots, she said, with as many as 12 restaurants and 25 breweries tickling taste buds while live musicians create a festive atmosphere. Not a beer drinker? No problem. “We have a wine bar for those people who aren’t necessarily beer fans,” she said, as well as soft drinks for designated drivers and others.
The fundraiser will take place from 7 to 11 p.m. at the 100-year-old mansion, both inside and outside the estate, Foster said. “It’s on a beautiful 70-acre piece of property so it's really a one-of-a-kind backdrop," Foster said.
She reflected on the event’s growth since its 2009 inception as a series of conservation lectures, often highlighting bats. Bats seemed to tie in with fall festivities, and when Blind Bat Brewery in Centerport came on board, followed the next year by Spider Bite Beer Co. in Holbrook, Seatuck had itself a Halloween-spirited gathering. “It's a really lovely event. We expect 500 people just as we do about every year," she said.
Tickets start at $150 for Seatuck’s biggest fundraiser and can be purchased through social media or the group’s website. A $250 supporter ticket, she said, “gets you a chance to win some really awesome grand-prize raffle prizes," which, according to the website, include Jets and Knicks tickets, a Long Island cottage getaway, and a paddle board. For those with a greater desire to help, “there’s sponsorship opportunities as well.”
Foster explained how the money helps to support the conservation of diverse wildlife throughout Long Island, saying, “We have a lofty goal of raising $95,000 this year so this will be our, hopefully, most lucrative year yet. We raise our goal a little bit every year.”
With its dedication to all of Long Island, Foster said Seatuck considers the group’s work rather unique. “There's a lot of really great environmental and conservation groups out there, but we are the only one who really does island-wide work, so we work on conservation projects from the boroughs all the way out to the forks on Long Island, and we have a lot of different species of special interests that we study, like bats, coyotes, diamondback terrapins, horseshoe crabs, river otters, spotted turtles and things like that.”
As an environmental group, Seatuck started in the late 1980s when Charles Webster, who owned the property where the nonprofit today has its office, was striving to continue research being conducted around the Seatuck National Wildlife Refuge. “What started as just monitoring this one piece of property has now grown 40 some odd years later into this island-wide conservation organization,” Foster said.