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Community Corner

Last Minute Push Underway for Tall Ships Weekend

Greenport village is making last minute preparations for the arrival of the Tall Ships and thousands of visitors.

With the arrival of six Tall Ships and thousands of visitors just days away, Greenport village employees and volunteers are working tirelessly to ready the village for a busy holiday weekend.

Carnival rides are arriving, the flashing information board has been installed by the, and village employees have been planting, painting and sprucing up the village in anticipation of an event which could be larger than the annual

Village Clerk Sylvia Pirillo has been in communication with the and said the two agencies have opened larger lines of communication in anticipation of the big weekend and that they are ready.

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Greenport Mayor David Nyce, whose idea it was to bring the ships into town this Memorial Day Weekend, said the village was "pretty well set to go."

Nyce has had village employees prepping the village for this event for weeks. He thanked the managers and village employees for all their hard work. Because he was so impressed with how the village looks, Nyce said he thinks the intense prep work should be done every spring and fall, but acknowledged that limited staff prevents it and appreciates the efforts being made

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"I want to thank you for all the work going on over the last several weeks," he said.

The mayor said he has received numerous compliments from residents and business owners over the appearance of the village.

Nyce said advertising for the event is really going to be amped up this week with heavy promotions on News 12. He said the local news channel will also be broadcasting live from the festival this weekend.

To help manage the crowds and serve as event ambassadors, Nyce said the committee already had 40 volunteers on board plus members of Honor Society and the Southold-Mattituck-Greenport Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps unit will also be on hand to help out. Volunteers will be wearing matching tee shirts to make them easy to identify and will have copies of the event guide. The event guides are currently available at village hall but will be in locations around the village during the event.

In addition to online ticket sales, Nyce said, ticket sales will be available at three indoor locations in the village. The tickets will be exchanged for wristbands once the ticket holders are ready to board the ships.

With one more meeting of the Tall Ships Steering Committee left, Nyce said the village was ready. He said he is sure something may be overlooked with an event this size, but he was confident leading up to the event.

"This seems to be a very well planned event and the weather looks like it will be okay," Nyce said.

The event kicks off with an opening ceremony at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 26 in

Greenport Village will host six Tall Ships as part of The Tall Ships Challenge Atlantic Coast 2012.  

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