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Fire & Water - Cleanup & Restoration

Archived Community Blog Posts

What's Happening this Weekend Around the Area

6/2/2022 (Permalink)

Here are a couple of events taking place in our community this weekend. Hope to see you there!

FDNY 343 Ride Charity Event and Live Music by Shilelagh Law

Sunday June 5th - 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Rye Town Park

95 Dearborn Avenue

Rye, NY 10580

View map

Proceeds from this charity go directly to help support severely injured veterans who have served in the Armed Forces. The money raised is used to pay for all terrain wheel chairs (Track Chairs), service dogs, medical bills, housing, and numerous other expenses that surface. These brave men and women have made great sacrifices and it is an honor to be able to help out any way we can.

Live Music from Shilelagh Law!!

50/50 raffle tickets and Tshirts available.

Beverage sponsors: Miller, Coors, and White Claw

Other vendors that will be taking part in this event will be Coffee Labs Roasters, Red Bull, and Westchester Bounce.

Also happening this weekend- It's the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua Festival.

Italian Music, Food, Wine, Games and a Weekend full of fun!!!

Jun 3- June 5th

Days/­Hours Open:Friday June 3rd open from 6pm-12 midnight, Saturday June 4th open from 5pm-12 midnight, and Sunday June 5th open from 2pm-10pm

Location: 85 Harrison Street, West Harrison, NY 10604

Looks like a great weekend for our community to come out and support these events!

Enjoy, have fun, and be safe!!!

Prize Winning Pop's BBQ Baked Beans and Pop's BBQ Ribs Recipe

5/24/2022 (Permalink)

We've given you some great tips for grill safety in or last blog and now all you need is a couple of great recipes for your Memorial Day BBQ!   We here at SERVPRO of White Plains would like to share with you prize winning and crowd pleasing recipes for  BBQ Ranch Baked Beans and BBQ Ribs.   These recipes are  3rd generation family recipes that have won awards and have been requested at more BBQs than any other recipe.  We call it Pop's  but my Mom claims she created the BBQ Sauce recipe.   Since Pop did all the BBQing we always credited him and call it Pop's  

BBQ Ranch Baked Beans

1 Bag Pinto or Small White Beans soaked overnight

2 lbs Ground Beef Browned and Drained

2 Sweet Onions Diced and Caramelized

1 Cup Ketchup

1/2 Cup Water

3 TBL Apple Cider Vinegar

2 TBL Dijon or Spicy Brown Mustard

2 TBL Brown Sugar

2 TBL Real Maple Syrup

Mix it all together and cook over low flame in either a grill safe Dutch oven or a foil pan covered for 40 minutes   Serve piping hot with Pop's Ribs

Pop's BBQ Ribs

3 Racks Baby Back Ribs

Sauce-

2 Cups Ketchup

1/2 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Worcestershire Sauce (pronounced Wu Stuh Shr Sauce)

4 TBL Apple Cider Vinegar (white works too)

4 TBL Brown Sugar

Hot Sauce to taste

Mix sauce ingredients.   Cut ribs off the rack 

Dip in Sauce and place directly on hot grill   Sear 5 minutes on each side to burn off any fat

Place ribs in foil pan, pour sauce on top to cover

Cover with foil and cook on very low hear for 1 hour 20 minutes then let sit for 7 minutes..  The meat is so tender and just falling off the bones!!   Make extra!

My family serves with a side of heave duty napkins!!

We hope you enjoy these recipes and we wish you a Safe and Happy Memorial Day and weekend!!!

Hudson River Cleanup

5/13/2022 (Permalink)

The planning that goes into the RiverKeeper Sweep is started a year in advance.  The meetings take place throughout the winter and as the date of May 7th is mentioned often, the ideas of a warm spring day with balmy temperatures in the early 70s conjure up a perfect day for cleaning up the river.  

This year, well not so much.   We started the day in the early 50s with a cold driving rain and  wind gusts from the east.    

As we trudged our way down the banks of the mighty Hudson, armed with blue recycle bags, the thought was to pick up some trash and get out of there.    That was not at all how it ended up.

We weathered the storm and cleaned up the Pier Pointe Cove of over 45 pounds of recyclable plastic,  and 5 huge bags of garbage    There were only 3 of us on this miserable day.  We were out there for about 3 hours, but in that short time we made a huge difference. The community surprised each other by showing up at the river's edge Sunday morning armed with pickers and their own bags to clean up the rest of the river banks.   No one organized it, it just happened.  Countless bags of recyclables were picked up and an endless amount of trash.   We all learned the value of community pitching in and hope that next year's River Sweep is a huge success.   Will keep you posted with volunteer information!

Hudson Riverkeeper Sweep Sat. 5/7/22

5/4/2022 (Permalink)

This is a 1 day cleanup over 120 shore cleanups along the Mighty Hudson River from New York City to The Adirondack Mountains

Starting Time is typically 8:00 AM.
WHERE: Along the banks of the Hudson River in just about every town, village, city 

There are usually  more than 2,000 volunteers that come together across hundreds of miles of shoreline in New York City and the Hudson Valley for the 11th Annual Riverkeeper Sweep, a day of service for the Hudson River. Volunteers will clean up tons of trash, plant healthy vegetation, and remove invasive plant species at more than 120 locations.

Riverkeeper partners with schools, parks, religious communities, paddling groups and scout troops to plan nearly 150 service projects from Staten Island to the Adirondacks. Over 10 years, Sweep volunteers have completed a total of 950 projects and removed 304 tons of debris, including 1,675 tires, and planted or maintained thousands of trees and shrubs. Once-neglected areas have gained year-round stewards, and rivers and creeks are better for it.

Locations and registration links are available at Riverkeeper.org/sweep beginning April 1. Volunteers must register to participate.

Follow #RiverkeeperSweep on social media and follow @Riverkeeper on Instagram.

Please come out and join us to help clean up this majestic river.  We have come such a long way with cleaning up and still have a long way to go.  It is a great day of fun, community, clean up and such a sense of accomplishment!   

Volunteer Day to help clean up the parks

4/4/2022 (Permalink)

PITCH IN FOR PARKS   APRIL 18-23 for Westchester County Parks.

Volunteers are the heart and spirit of the Westchester County parks system.  Every year even in the coldest months of winter, there are volunteer days to help clean up the park.   It is way more then picking up garbage and discarded water bottles.   

I volunteered at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers (a Westchester County Park) for a glorious 15 degree sunny day with 6 inches of snow on the ground to help cut down invasive vines.   These invasive vines literally strangle trees.   I showed up at the park at 9 am (along with 25 other volunteers)  and was handed a lopper.  Had never held a lopper in my hand, but that didn't stop those in charge from telling me how it works and pointing me off in the right direction.  I was instructed to cut anything next to a tree that could potentially grow to choke it.   Off we went off the walking path into the wooded area of bushes and vine wrapped trees.  It was a morning of cutting vines, and removing the pieces into a large pile along the path.   A laborious but fun time with a feeling of accomplishment at the end.   A time for reflecting on what we were actually doing there.  Every little bit helps.     Helping to keep the trees alive and to prevent these invasive vines from overtaking a beautiful park.  

Pitch In for Parks
Every year, thousands of civic-minded individuals, organizations and groups volunteer their time and efforts to contribute making their county parks more enjoyable for the benefit of all Westchester residents.

Volunteers in the Parks
Volunteers in the Parks orient visitors to the parks, lead field trips through the nature preserves for local elementary schools, take photographs, help children learn to swim, lead tours of historic sites and help maintain our parks. Volunteers  come from all walks of life with a variety of skills, abilities, experiences and interests. But they all have one thing in common: a desire to be involved in protecting and preserving the park system for future generations. Westchester County volunteers enjoy a rewarding learning and work experience and have countless opportunities to develop their interests and utilize their skills.  April  18-23rd is Pitch in for the Parks in Westchester County.    Registration is required, sounds like a why, but it helps the people organizing know how much of everything to bring.   It is a great event and all ages are welcome.    Tell your friend and families.  Such a short amount of time can make a huge difference.   Enjoy!!

World Environment Day is June 5th

6/2/2021 (Permalink)

The view from a local wildlife and bird sanctuary in Rye NY.

The theme of World Environment Day for 2021 is: Ecosystem Restoration

We often talk about ecosystems and restoration but do we really know what it implies and entails and what one can do for it locally?

Some helpful points about ecosystem restoration: 

  • Ecosystem restoration implies "assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed".
  • It also includes conservation of the ecosystems that are fragile or still intact.
  • The ecosystem can be restored in many ways. Planting trees is one of the easiest and best ways of caring for the environment.
  • People also need to eliminate pressures on the environment.
  • Urban and rural landscapes have different ways to adapt and restore ecosystems.

Our local area has several different parks created to protect various marshlands and bird/wildlife sanctuaries.

There are many ways we can help with ecosystem restoration here at home. Simply not littering/picking up after yourself, staying on marked trails in local parks/hiking areas and not contaminating groundwater are some easy things most of us do naturally. 

SERVPRO of New Rochelle and White Plains works hard to reduce harm to the environment and we use products that are safer for the environment whenever possible.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (1901-1978)

A Letter from a Happy Client

7/25/2016 (Permalink)

Thanks to Natalie for this wonderful letter. We are glad she had such a great experience.

This is a letter of recommendation for SERVPRO of White Plains & New Rochelle, who we employed to mitigate mold  at our Townhouse located in Pelham, NY. 

In the past, I had owned several properties and have dealt with multiple contractors which in fact did bring me a lot of grief. Lack of timely completion, lack of control over subcontractors and a lack of general all around ownership of the job was something I had come to expect as the norm. 

In December 2015, we had a major flood in our Townhouse from a broken pipe in a bathroom located on a third floor. It took us over 6 months to negotiate overall damage price with the Insurance provider due to damage quote estimate difference, among other difficulties. 

After many months of detailed research, we were lucky to find  ServePro of White Plains & New Rochelle who did a great deal to change our views when it comes to working with a Mitigation company.

Antoinette from ServePro worked diligently to remove the multiple loose ends and questions that caused confusion, cost overruns and delays with the Insurance provider. She is extremely knowledgeable, very professional, has excellent communication skills and keeps everyone informed of all aspects of the project.

The SERVPRO Team utilized excellent project management skills to problem solve any issue that arose during the project. They were very detail oriented, focused on keeping the project on schedule and on budget. I find them to be very honest and straightforward on all issues.  They are efficient, work hard to keep the project in-line and are excellent in communication. This was a great experience for us to work with such a professional group of contractors!

I would highly recommend Serve Pro of White Plains & New Rochelle to anyone who wishes to undergo a mitigation project with as little anguish as possible.