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Courtney Trzcinski, 13, of Cutchogue. (Credit: Vera Chinese)
The scent of freshly cut strawberries filled the air as hundreds of volunteers hulled thousands of berries for the Mattituck Lions Club’s Strawberry Festival on Thursday.
Hulling night, an annual tradition, is held the first night of the four-day fair. The hulled berries are made into strawberry shortcake, daiquiris, pie and more.
“This is how we get them ready to be mashed for our famous shortcake,” said Mattituck Lions Club Third Vice President Steve Bialeski.
Of the nearly 10,000 clamshells of strawberries used, some are grown on the North Fork — though many more are imported.
“We go through so many, and the crop was bad so we had to outsource,” Mr. Bialeski said.
The festival continues today, Saturday, and Sunday at the Strawberry Fieleds on Route 48 in Mattituck.
Jessica Makucewicz, 17, of Mattituck. (Credit: Vera Chinese)
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Vera Chinese has been the editor of northforker.com and northforker magazines since May 2014.
Prior to that she spent two and a half years as a staff reporter for the New York Daily News.
She joined the Riverhead News-Review as a staff writer in January 2010 and was named Associate Web Editor nine months later.
She previously worked for the Southampton Press Western Edition and was named the third place 2008 Rookie Reporter of the Year by the New York Press Association. She graduated from Wagner College in 2006 where she received a bachelor's degree in English. She earned a master's degree in English education from New York University in 2007.
She is a 2002 graduate of Eastport High School and has lived on the East End for more than 20 years.