While the Village of New Hyde Park Department of Public Works was working overtime to clean up the village in the wake of the recent hurricane, Boy Scouts of local Troop 298 provided a big assist by doing some heavy lifting of their own in Memorial and Nuzzi parks.
Rich Pallisco, assistant scoutmaster of Troop 298, which is sponsored by Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, had the idea of enlisting members of the scout troop in the cleanup effort.
“I saw the Department of Public Works was really busy with the street cleanup. And I saw the parks were really in disarray,” said Pallisco, who is also village recreation director.
Thomas Fitzgerald, a member of the scout troop, needed to do a community service project to advance from his rank of Star to Life, one rank shy of Eagle Scout. So he directed the cleanup project as one of 10 scouts from the troop with Pallisco overseeing the work.
“He ordered the other scouts around and we used chain saws. It kind of warms him up for the next big step, which is Eagle,” Pallisco said.
On Saturday, Nov. 17, the 10 scouts came prepared with chain saws to handle large limbs that were strewn in both New Hyde Park Memorial Park and Nuzzi Park. They collected smaller debris and dragged it to a central point in each location for eventual pick-up by the DPW. Pallisco said the scouts spent approximately two hours in each park to complete the work that day.
“There was a lot of debris,” he said. “The DPW was grateful. It saved them a lot of work.”
Village of New Hyde Park Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro publicly thanked Pallisco and the scouts from Troop 298 for their volunteer effort in the parks at the Nov. 20 village board meeting.
Pallisco said it was a lot of work, but the scouts thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
“They like to do anything like that,” he said. “It reminds them of camping. They all work together pretty good together.”
The cleanup was the second time in the past year that Troop 298 has pitched in to help out on a project in the village.
Last summer the scouts repainted the storage building in Memorial Park as one scout’s Eagle Scout community service project.
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
