Harrison REVIEW THE
February 19, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 8 | www.harrisonreview.com
Ex-parks commissioner appointed to Town Council By ANGELA JOrDAN Staff Writer
Life Lessons Richa Mehra, a Harrison High School junior, sits with a town veteran at Post 3047 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Mehra interviews local veterans as part of her “Lesson for Living” project. For story, see page 6. Photo/Angela Jordan
Capitol Theatre to honor fallen West Harrison hero By ANGELA JOrDAN Staff Writer A benefit concert will take place on Thursday, Feb. 25 at Port Chester’s Capitol Theatre in honor of fallen NYPD detective and Air National Guard Reserve, Tech Sgt. Joseph Lemm. Lemm, of West Harrison, left behind a wife, Christine, and two children, Brooke and Ryan. He was in the New York Air National Guard’s 105th Airlift Wing when he was killed in action along with five other Airmen on Dec. 21, 2015. Lemm and his fellow team member, Staff Sgt. Louis Bonasca, have been posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his bravery during the attack.
According to the award citation, both Lemm and Bonasca put themselves between a suicide bomber and their team members in an attempt to shield the other Airmen from the explosion, which prevented some of them from being killed. The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “honor and support first responders and military,” has organized the fundraiser on behalf of Lemm’s family. “When we heard what happened to him, we contacted the NYPD immediately to find out how we could help his family,” said John Hodge, the chief operating officer for Tunnel to Towers. The organization decided to
call the show the “NYPD Superman Benefit Concert” because Lemm’s nickname among his fellow officers was “Superman.” “We hope the community comes out big for him,” Hodge said. A representative for the Capitol Theatre, located at 149 Westchester Ave., said that they expect a great turnout for the concert and that “the community is definitely coming together to celebrate a hero.” The concert will be featuring performances by the New York Tenors, Clyde McPhatter’s Drifters, comedian Joe Piscopo and American Idol finalist Jax. Lemm’s teenage daughter, Brooke, will also be singing in her father’s honor.
The concert will also feature a live painting performance by artist Scott Lobaido, whose work is largely influenced by patriotic themes. “I am honored to be performing at the fundraiser for Tech. Sgt. Joseph Lemm,” Lobaido said. “As the great New York tenor Danny Rodriguez sings ‘America the Beautiful,’ I will be painting a rendition of the stars and stripes. Takes just three minutes to speed paint it to Danny’s song,” Lobaido said, describing the piece as “exciting.” Ticket prices for the concert range between $60 and $300. The doors will open at 6 p.m. and the show will start at 8 p.m. hErO continued on page 8
In order to fill the vacancy left when town Republican Councilman Joe Cannella stepped down from the Harrison Town Council, the board appointed Joseph Stout as its newest member at the Jan. 28 council meeting. Stout, a Democrat, who was born and raised in Harrison, was eager to take the position. “I like to give back to my community, so I took this opportunity when it came up, after [the other town board members] spoke to me about it,” said Stout, the only Democrat on a majority Republican board. Mayor Ron Belmont, a Republican who announced the appointment, said that Stout was selected by the town board because he was the strongest candidate for the position due to his wealth of experiences in public service, and that party affiliation was not a concern. Stout, 59, has had a professional career spanning more than 35 years throughout Westchester County, working various positions within parks and recreation departments. He began his career in Harrison as a part-time employee in the town Recreation Department and eventually became the superintendent of recreation there. Since then, Stout has worked in Hastings-on-Hudson, Newcastle, Chappaqua and Millwood in addition to Harrison in parks department positions, and eventually served as commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation until he retired
in 2010. He said one of the things he enjoyed most about overseeing public parks is that he got to interact with the people he served “on a personal level.” “To me, parks and recreation facilities and programs are transformative in people’s lives,” Stout said. “When you go to a park, you’ll see kids in strollers all the way up to senior citizens walking or sitting on park benches and everyone else in between. It doesn’t matter what ethnicity, race, or gender you are, the parks are open to everybody. That’s a special thing to be involved in.” Currently, Stout is also the executive director of the Friends of Westchester County Parks, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the county’s parks system. He is also a Harrison volunteer fireman and had previously served on the town Planning Board for the past 18 months. “I think when many people think of ‘government,’ for the most part they think of their local town or village government because that’s what hits closest to home,” he said. “It’s where decisions are made on projects, on where you can park your car, and when garbage gets picked up, so it really has an impact on day-to-day life, and our job is to make life better here.” Stout mentioned that there were some projects that came before the Planning Board during his time there that he looks forward to discussing further, particularly the redevelopment of the downtown section of Harrison, where he currently APPOINTED continued on page 8
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