Letters

While I was recently sitting on a bench in Steinbeck Park, to enjoy the sunset, three people came up to me with pretty basic questions. They were all first-time visitors and not from Sag Harbor. I did my best to be hospitable and provide some helpful information.

I started feeling like a park ranger. And so I was wondering: Maybe volunteer park rangers could be assigned to Steinbeck Park? Initially working, as part of a pilot program, from 5 to 8 p.m. for the summer. That’s when folks getting off work want some fresh air and want to picnic with kids.

A couple of minutes on Google revealed that one of our nation’s first park rangers was a woman, Peg Lindsley, who started working at Yellowstone in 1918. She was trained as a naturalist and spent much of her time on nature tours for visitors.

I wondered: Is Steinbeck Park its own ecosystem that might interest visitors?

As thanks to volunteers, perhaps each of them gets a free T-shirt. Maybe olive green with bold letters saying “Ranger.”

Duncan Darrow

Sag Harbor