Making Malverne Mel's new home

To some Malverne residents, making the village the permanent home of Malverne Mel seems like a great idea.

It appears unlikely, however, to happen anytime soon. Suggestions made by the groundhog’s caretaker, Andre Ricaud, and several Malverne residents to house Mel and other farm animals at Grossmann’s Farm were turned down by the Nassau Land Trust, the nonprofit group that operates the county-owned farm.

“At this point in the development of the programs for the farm, it’s premature for us to commit to the scale of what was proposed,” said the trust’s founder and chairman, Lloyd Zuckerberg. “We have other things that we feel are more important to the core operations of the farm that we need to get in order before we can entertain the idea of a petting zoo.”

For Ricaud, who owns an animal rental business called Party Pets and about 200 animals that he boards at his home in Baldwin and a farm in Central Islip, a move to Malverne would be ideal. “Would I love to go to Grossmann’s Farm? Oh, without a doubt,” he recently told the Herald. “It would be so much better for me, instead of traveling 40 miles every day out to Central Islip to take care of these animals. Whether it’s raining, beautiful out, snowstorm — I go out there no matter what. … I got my hands full. [A move to Grossmann’s] would really alleviate a lot of pressure on me.”

When foreclosure threatened to force the 50-year-old Ricaud off the Central Islip property, which he rented, in late September, he approached Paul Schwartz, a Malverne resident whose wife, Pennie, sits on the Land Trust’s Grossmann Farm subcommittee and acts as a liaison to the village, about making a move. The reaction was mixed, according to Ricaud, who said that Schwartz suggested that he try Tanglewood Preserve in Lakeview, but added that it would be a shame to lose Ricaud as an option for the farm.

“They want me, but they don’t want me,” Ricaud recently told the Herald. “I couldn’t wait for them. If I waited for them, I’d be waiting forever.”