In July, when Michael Fink considered ideas for his Eagle Scout public service project, he thought back to his younger years in Little League playing on Nuzzi Field in New Hyde Park.
The condition of the refreshment stand immediately came to mind for Fink, a senior at New Hyde Park Memorial High School who still spends time at the field.
Five months later, the result is a brand-new looking refreshment stand.
“When I was younger I was big into Little League. I just decided it would be something good to fix up,” Fink said. “Why not do a building I’m always around, make it look better for the town and the kids?”
Fink was assisted in the project by Rich Pallisco, an assistant scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 298 and recreation director for the Village of New Hyde Park. Fink submitted his plans to Pallisco in September, who reviewed them and submitted them to the New Hyde Board village board.
The village board reviewed them, approved them and Fink started work with the help of his fellow scouts in mid-October.
The scouts started by scraping the old coats of paint off the building so the new paint would adhere properly. Then they power-washed the bathrooms, which were caked with mud from the young ballplayers who used them. And they repainted the bathrooms to matched the exterior colors they selected.
“I had a bunch of scouts and a couple of friends there,” Fink said.
Fink also received a big assist from Reid Sackowich, owner of Sackowich Plumbing and the Inn at New Hyde Park, who donated the paint for the project. Sackowich is a longtime New Hyde Park Little League sponsor and was inducted into the little league’s Hall of Fame last season in recognition of his sponsorship efforts.
They had to work around the Little League schedule, doing much of the work on Sundays, and ultimately spent five days working on the project over as many weeks. When it was done, Fink had taken his final step toward attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.
“I felt so relieved. It was just one more thing that was done. The building looked great,” Fink said. “This was the last big thing that I had to do.”
He produced an 80-page book detailing the work on the project. Now he is awaiting an Eagle review board as a final step to reaching his goal.
Apart from his Boy Scout activities, Fink is a member of the New Hyde Park Memorial Key Club and plays varsity lacrosse. He also plays trombone, and baritone horn in the high school concert band, orchestra, and jazz band.
He is also planning to study civil or mechanical engineering in college.
