On December 3, the new Pavilion at the Lloyd town field was named in honor of the late Lewis C. DiStasi Jr. [1937-2021], the town’s attorney for more than 40 years.

Town Supervisor Dave Plavchak welcomed everyone, including many relatives of DiStasi, to the ribbon cutting ceremony. He said after the town received some covid relief funds, they began to discuss, “what would be great for the community.” Additionally, the town received a grant of $125,000 from Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson.

“I know in early 2021, after Mr. DiStasi passed, the Town Board at the time came up with a great idea to name the pavilion after him and will forever be known as the Lewis C. DiStasi Jr. Pavilion,” Plavchak said. “Although I didn’t have a personal relationship with Mr. DiStasi, I was well aware of who he was and what he meant to the town.”

Plavchak said besides DiStasi’s long service to the town as their attorney, “he served on numerous boards, whether it was banking, education or for the Highland School District; he was known for his never ending knowledge of Highland. Everybody has told me that his traits were honesty, integrity and friendship to all and devotion to his family and community. He was all for giving straight advice to anybody who asked and was essential in helping the town reach [legal] decisions and assisting in any way possible.”

Plavchak noted that DiStasi was instrumental in establishing the towns Revolving Loan fund, “that was put together as a way to offer small businesses low interest loans to grow and update their businesses. That is still in place today and has more than half a million dollars in it and about $200,00 to $300,000 in outstanding loans.”

Plavchak said DiStasi was also, “a member of a barbershop quartet and had a bunch of other hobbies, so altogether I think it’s great that this is named after somebody who gave so much back to the community and I am sure we all appreciate what he did and his name will be on this pavilion.”

Plavchak thanked local architect Sean Williams.

“This is what he came up with and I think it’s a great design. He’s helped us throughout with some of the construction inspections and I know a lot of it has been on his own donated time and we truly appreciate it,” Plavchak said.

During the planning stage, Plavchak secured additional funding through the county known as Park and Recreation grants. He applied and received $100,000 for the pavilion.

Plavchak also thanked the town Highway Department for the excavation work they did and the Water & Sewer Department for all of the piping work to bring water to the pavilion.

“That helped us lower the cost and also helped us provide in-kind services for the matching fund grants,” he said. “I’m thrilled that it’s built and it’s already been used for a few town events. We hope to make the Lewis C. DiStasi Jr. Pavilion a centerpiece for our community to enjoy for years to come.”

Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson’s $125,000 got the project moving forward. He said one of the ‘joyous things’ is when he can bring back money to the district for projects like the pavilion. He characterized this pavilion, “as one of the most bipartisan projects in the world. It is a great idea for the town and all of you can be proud for playing a part in this great project.”

Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger said, “this is the most beautiful pavilion. I know so much work was put into it by so many people and the county is thrilled to support a project like this.”

Metzger said the county’s park grants program utilizes American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] funding, “to give grants to bring projects like this pavilion to our municipalities. This kind of gathering space in a community is so important and many of our towns don’t have a central gathering place right downtown. In this age of cell phones, we need to spend more time together as a community, doing things together and strengthening our bonds. I am thrilled to see this project move forward and to see this beautiful unveiling.”

Councilman John Fraino served as the Project Manager for the pavilion and tapped the skills of those in the Building, Highway and Water Departments to assist the project. He thanked Patti Brooks for donating her time doing the survey work for, “all the elevations and layouts.”

Fraino noted that the pavilion was an expensive project but thanked Mike Campbell, of The Barn Raiser, who brought in many Amish builders to build the structure at a reasonable rate.

“They came in and looked like ants all over the building, it was amazing,” Fraino recalled, adding that Paul Gargiulo, of P&G Electric, donated his labor to do some of the electrical work that was needed. He also thanked local resident Thomas Burke, of Good 2 Go Garage Doors, for donating doors and only asking to be paid for his labor. M&T Bank has promised to do landscaping around the pavilion in the spring and the Highland Rotary would also like to be involved.
Fraino concluded by saying, “My point is this was built by the community and the Town of Highland has been a community-minded town. We now have a facility where we can gather and it will be here for a long, long time. Lew was a great guy and I think he would be very proud of this facility.”