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Nice fall weekend on Long Island, close call on coastal storm next week

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News 12 Staff

102FALLBACKLI1_2024-10-02-06-27-20

Every week. We're spotlighting different communities and everything that makes them so special. Each one of them this week we're in Freeport News. Twelve's Alex Calamia is checking out Atlantic Nursery this morning. Good morning, Alex. Good morning, Rich. Yeah, there is so much more to plant nurseries than just getting those summer annuals. This is such a special spot because when the light finally comes out Mother Nature 640 is the sunrise time. We're gonna show you carnival games and farm animals, haunted houses and it's all for free. But in the meantime, I'm here with Christina to talk about the nursery because you have been here for 95 years and I see behind us, we have some moms. They're Long Island grown. What makes it so special to be here? Well, we've been here for 95 years. It was, we're a third generation family business, uh, which, uh, to be third generation in New York on Long Island in the same space I think is, is very special. Um, we take pride in our work. Uh, we have very and knowledgeable staff that have been with us for decades and we try really hard to put the customer first. Yeah, we were talking that you said some of your staff are here 30 years or so. Tell us about your customers too. Are very local to Freeport. Are they coming from elsewhere on the island? Honestly, Alex, we draw from very far, uh, we have customers that come here from Suffolk County and maybe they, uh, visited here as a child with their parents and then relocated to Suffolk. Uh, we have people that come from Huntington. Uh, but we also draw a lot from Brooklyn. Uh, we're on the south shore so we're easy access for them. And personally, I think we carry some of the most diverse plant varieties, uh, whether it be summer annuals, vegetables, hot peppers, unique tomatoes. Um, so we, we have a big draw organics. Uh, and so when you have a quality product, people will come. It's amazing. It's so true and they are open all year long also. So if you're looking for a little dose of happiness in the winter time or Christmas decorations, they have got you covered. But it is all about fall here right now. We took a little sneak peek of the set up outside. You have got to wait and see what they've got for you. This is amazing. It's a free thing that you can do with the family and buy some beautiful plants too, guys.

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102fallbackli2_2024-10-02-07-52-17

Every week. We're spotlighting different communities and everything that makes each of them so special. This week we're in Freeport and New Shelves. Alex Calamia is checking out Atlantic Nursery this morning. Got a lot of great things to do there. Alex. They sure do for 95 years rich. You know, you've been able to get fresh flowers and plants. I mean, this is a staple, not just here in Freeport, but in Long Island in general. Um but not only can you get your fresh moms here, but you can have a lot of Fall fun too. This is all part of their Fall family fun. I'm here with Christina and we have Ellie too to talk about some of the free events that are here. What's going on? Yes. For years, we've tried to offer local free fall family fun. That's convenient and available to our community. So, uh we offer a play in the hay area, a haunted hideaway, which is a spooky but not scary spot for our young friends and some of the most favorite friends that we have and welcome in the Fall is our friendly farm animals, which we've always had a menagerie. It's evolved over time. But, uh, this year we have, um, our goats, sheep and some rabbits and for just small change, uh, Children and adults alike can, uh, feed the animals and pet them. They're easily accessible. Um, and I think it's one Ellie's favorite parts of our Fall family. Fun. I think so too. So, what's your favorite thing about the goats this year? Um, probably because they're all fluffy and cute. They are. Do you want to feed them? Let's go feed some goats. Ok. Come here. They're really, really friendly and it really is fun for the whole family. We were talking earlier to Margo who's a freshman. She had to get ready for school, but you can have fun, um, taking selfies with your friends if you're a little bit older or, you know, honestly, any age like these goats are just, I'm getting such a kick out of them guys. They were giving me kisses before they're incredibly friendly. You can pet them. They're, they're so, so cute. Um, an incredible, incredibly fun time to have with the family. We've got more fun to show you. We talked about a maze, a haunted house. Uh, we're gonna show it to you all coming up in a bit, guys.

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102fallback5_2024-10-02-08-48-57

We are spotlighting different communities and everything that makes them so special. This week we've been in Freeport having a great time there. And News twelve's Alex Calamia is checking out Atlantic Nursery this morning. Alex. I'm telling you rich, their flowers are so beautiful. You can get moms grown on Long Island. So you know that they're gonna do really well. But what makes this nursery so special is the commitment to the community. They have a beautiful family fall fest here. Well, look at the, look at the goats, first of all. Oh my gosh, you can pet the goats and feed the goats and they're so friendly. I'm here with Christina to talk more about the Fall family fun that you have. What's, what's a favorite? First of all? Well, I think the animals are hands down. Number one. Kids who can say no to this little face. Yeah, kids love feeding them, petting them. I mean, people ask for them year round. We just don't have the space. Um and we love offering all this free to the community. You know, we just ask a donation for our local food pantry which we then match our donation, uh, the donations we collect. So if we can offer this to the community and give back, that's what we'd like to do. So, in addition to the animals, what are some other events? Well, we have Carl's Crazy Maze named after our construction manager of all our fall set up. Um, we also have a haunted hideaway, which is spooky, not scary meant for, you know, the younger crowd, we have a store wide scavenger hunt, which if you've never been to Atlantic Nursery before, it'll get you familiar with all we have to offer and there's a prize at the end. We have the play in the hay and on weekends, uh, you can paint a pumpkin if you'd like as well. So that's on weekends. But, um, what else can people come here? Uh, well, actually all the fall free family fun events are open are available every day that we're open, which is seven days a week. We're open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday is 9 to 4. That's perfect. And, um, because I know that you were mentioning this before. Sometimes your customers are surprised here that they are open all year long. So after you're done with Fall, then you're moving on to Christmas and all of the beautiful house plants too. Right. Exactly. Nothing to better, uh, brighten a winter's day than bringing a nice fresh house plant, home, cleans the air. Awesome. People always ask why I'm so happy. It's because I'm visiting nurseries all winter long and just like embracing all the beautiful plants. But this is the place to be for fall plans guys. This is so much fun.

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102fallback3_2024-10-02-08-40-01

And this morning we're back in Freeport showing off everything it has to offer. Today, we're checking out Atlantic Nursery and News club's Alex Calamia is there right now as their Fall family fun events kick off and what a sight it is out there, Alex such such a fun place to be. Now, we're used to Atlantic Nursery, bringing lots of beauty all year long to Freeport and the entire island. Honestly, for 95 years, they've been doing that, but their Fall Festival is incredible. We have so many fun activities for free, including the slide, who I was practicing that one. I'm here with Leanne. We have Margaret, we have Ellie to talk about how this is fun for the whole family. So first Leanne, tell me what you have. We have a lot of free activities for the entire family to enjoy. We have animals, we have a maze, we have a play the hay area with the slide, a haunted hide away. We have a store wide scavenger hunt. Um So there's something for everyone and on weekends we have pumpkin painting. I love that and that slide is really fast. I'm like, I'm my heart is racing. So, Margo, you're a freshman in high school? Tell me what your favorite thing is about the festival. Well, there's always gonna be photo ops everywhere so you can take your fall pictures. Um, I've always enjoyed the haunted house and the animals are always just a long lasting memory here. That's fantastic. It really is true. So, a lot of the older kids with the Snapchats and it's not even Snapchat anymore. It's tiktok. Now, um you can take your pictures on Instagram. Uh but we have Ellie who's a third grader too and it's not super scary any of this stuff either. What's your favorite thing though? Um Probably the farm animals because they're very cute and cozy. I know I saw the goats like it was dark and early and they're already looking at me. So we'll definitely show you some of the goats to pet too. Uh Again, this is a free event, but if you're here, you can actually make a donation to a great cause. So tell us about that. Yes. So since we offer everything for free, we do ask when you come, if you can make a donation, we have a donation box outside in the Fall Festival area and all the proceeds go to a local food pantry. Fantastic. And this festival is seven days a week. But those special activities that you pay for like the pumpkin painting that's on the weekends. And of course Atlantic Nursery open all year long. So Christmas and winter plants all here too, uh, when that season comes. But in the meantime, we're enjoying fall guys. Oh, that's for sure. Alex. It sounds like a great place. A lot of fun things to do there. We'll check back in a little bit. Thank you.

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102fallback4_2024-10-02-08-42-39

This morning, we are back in Freeport showing off everything it has to offer. And today we're checking out Atlantic nursery news tells Alex Kama is there right now as the Fall family fun events kick off and there's plenty to do Alex. Absolutely. This place is amazing. I mean, for 95 years, people have been getting their flowers. You can get Long Island grown moms here, but you can also for free, bring the whole entire family and have a lot of fun too. They have a maze. We have Ellie working on that right now and I'm here with her mom Leanne to tell us about some of the fun activities going on. So, aside from the maze, you have the farm animals, we have playing the hay area. We have a scavenger hunt that's store wide with a prize at the end. We have a haunted hideaway. Um, numerous, numerous photo apps throughout the entire property and a full market that's full of all the fun stuff, lawn steaks, scarecrows. So there's really a lot to do for everyone. And on weekends we get fresh apple cider and apple cider donuts from Jericho's Cider Mill. So it's really exciting. I wish it was the weekend because that sounds absolutely delicious. Now, all of us really, to me it just seems like just like a love letter to your customers. What makes it so special to be here? Family owned for 95 years, we have a lot of people in the community come out year after year, people bringing their grandchildren, you know, their own Children. They remember coming here as a kid. So really means a lot for us that we can provide all this for everyone. And uh like I mentioned, it's really fun for the entire family. So we have people come and spend hours here on the weekend. Um And it's really uh we really enjoy seeing everyone enjoying it. Yeah. And you know, speaking of giving back, you also have an opportunity to donate while you're here to a local food pantry. So I hope you get a chance to do that. And I know you said a lot of your customers are surprised to hear this, but they are open all year long. So as soon as fall is over, which is just getting started, but as soon as it's over, you can get your Christmas stuff here too or just enjoy some greenery during the cooler months. We've got a lot more fun to show you. So stay tuned.

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News 12’s Alex Calamia is checking out the Atlantic Nursery in Freeport as their Fall Family Fun events kick off.

Fall Back: Atlantic Nursery in Freeport

News 12’s Alex Calamia is checking out the Atlantic Nursery in Freeport as their Fall Family Fun events kick off.

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Turning fear into a fundraiser: Long Islanders use Halloween haunts to help sick children 

Turning fear into a fundraiser: Long Islanders use Halloween haunts to help sick children 

Turning fear into a fundraiser: Long Islanders use Halloween haunts to help sick children 