Agriculture

Fundraiser set for March 6 to support Cornell horticulture center

Digger O'Dell's on West Main Street in Riverhead. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Digger O’Dell’s on West Main Street in Riverhead. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)

The annual fundraiser for Cornell University’s Long Island Horticulture Research & Extension is set for next Thursday, March 6, in Riverhead.

The buffet dinner will include pasta, chicken, beef and potato dishes, served by “celebrity bartenders” from the horticulture industry like landscapers, local farmers and greenhouse owners.

“This is really a good fundraiser for us,” said Diane Hanwick, an administrator at the extension. “This is one of the big ones.”

Ms. Hanwick said Digger’s owner Steve Wirth offers up the space for free for the fundraiser and donates nearly all of the proceeds to Cornell — he only asks that the tips remain with his waiters.

“He’s been very generous,” she said.

Mark Bridgen, center director and professor of horticulture, said the fundraising event is in its te th year, and has proven to be a fun time, bringing those interested in agriculture together for a night of levity.

Farming experts that work at the center include plant pathologists, an entomologist, grape specialists and others. They research local and regional growing methods designed to increase crop yields, improve crop quality, decrease production and marketing costs and increase production and marketing efficiency for local farmers.

They do all this while working to preserve the local environment, according to the Cornell website.

The event is priced at $20 per person, and all income collected from the meals will be donated to Cornell’s Riverhead center.

The campus, a now 68-acre facility, features state-of-the-art greenhouses, a nursery and container production area, and a plant tissue culture facility. It was established on a 30-acre farm in 1922.

Each summer the center hires student interns to help run the experimental growing operations. A portion of the proceeds will go toward funding the student interns, Mr. Bridgen said.

Digger O’Dell’s is located at 58 West Main St. in Riverhead.