Patriotism was in full flower Sunday afternoon as the town dedicated Broad Street Park, a place created to honor Seymour veterans.
The project is the culmination of three decades of dreaming and planning by Al Yagovane and the Broad Street Park Committee.
Yagovane originally wanted a site to memorialize Vietnam and Korean War veterans, but the site now honors all veterans who served.
Henry Card, a U.S. Navy veteran of the Vietnam War, admired the brick engraved with his name, on the new 500-foot brick walkway that circles the park.
“It’s fantastic,” Card said.
Card’s friend, Seymour resident Joe Bazley, is also a U.S. Navy Vietnam War veteran.
He called the new park “a beautiful tribute.”
Yagovane said he felt “terrific” as he watched close to 125 people enjoy late afternoon sunshine in the park on Sunday.
He first came up with the idea of building a veterans park about 29 years ago and asked town leaders if he could fill in a hole left from the 1955 flood at the Broad Street site.
Over the next two and a half decades, he and a team of volunteers continued improving the lot, adding a flag pole, a gazebo and plantings.
They started hosting Veterans Day events there each November.
Ground was broken for the latest expansion about a year-and-a-half ago, and volunteers of all ages spent months installing brick walkways, lighting and new park benches at the site that overlooks the waterfalls at the intersection of River Street and Broad Street.
The committee accepted donations, in the form of sponsored bricks, to help pay for the work.
“The volunteers did a fantastic job,” Yagovane said, and singled out
Kevin Cox of Prestige Landscaping, Inc. and John Behun, whom Yagovane often called early in the morning or late at night.
“John, you’ve always been there,” Yagovane said.
Chris Dziubina, the owner of Cutting Edge Landscaping, said his workers laid bricks and planted trees.
“Whatever Al needed, we did it,” Dziubina said. “I’m glad everybody is enjoying the park.”
The Broad Street Park Committee received $20,000 from the Katharine Matthies Foundation, and volunteers from more than a dozen local contractors completed the park.
More than 80 volunteers participated in the project.
“It’s a wonderful community effort,” said Fred Stanek, master of ceremonies at Sunday’s dedication.
After Stanek’s introductory remarks, the sound of Taps rang out over the park, and members of VFW Post 12084 raised the American Flag. Patty Rimkunas sang “The Star Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America.”
Local officials from the region took part in the ceremony. They included Seymour First Selectman Kurt Miller and Selectmen Karen Stanek and Al Bruno, Ansonia Mayor Jim Della Volpe, Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti and State Sen. Robert Kane (R‑32).
Completing the park “shows what the spirit of community is about,” Miller said. “I was a sophomore in high school when this got started.”
“I think about the impact [the park] will have on many generations of Americans,” Lauretti said.
Colonel Michael Casey of the Connecticut National Guard asked for a moment of silence “for those who have gone before us and can’t be with us today.”
He asked veterans of all wars to raise their hands. They included those who served in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, those deployed in peace-keeping missions, and those who served in peacetime.
“I thank everybody for the work they put into this park,” he said.
Yagovane thanked Broad Street Park Committee members Michael Horbal, Bill Wilkin, Sandy Cass, Melissa Gerard and Tom Lavranchuk.
“They’re the people with the brains to make the decisions,” Yagovane said.
He also credited Former First Selectman Paul Roy, who approved the final expansion of the park and former First Selectman Robert Koskolowski, who was the first person Yagovane contacted about expanding the park.
Richie G. of Eagle Productions provided the music at the dedication.
One of the Broad Street Park’s youngest volunteers is 14-year-old Joshua Acevedo, a Seymour High School sophomore.
Acevedo said he spent five months working at the site, often arising early in the morning to put in volunteer hours.
“I want to be in the Marines,” he said, and wanted to honor those who had served.
The hours of shoveling and raking were worth it as Acevedo strolled around the park.
