Build it and they will come

For 32 years, Randy Ross was an English teacher in Pawling.

When it came time for retirement, Ross, 66, didn’t know what he wanted to do, but he knew it needed to keep his brain active and his body moving. Six years ago, the idea fell into place.

“I had gone to a Memorial Day ceremony and they had a beam from the World Trade Center that was 20-feet long in the middle of the park,” said the Wappingers Falls resident. “People were coming to a ceremony and leaving flowers at the beam and I thought about our parks that could use something like this, some kind of a focal point to bring people to."

WHAT I LOVE: Sourdough is her bread and butter

Ross didn’t know anyone personally who perished in the attacks on the World Trade Center Sept. 11, 2001, but he knew that people in the area had been affected.

“It was just something that really touched me,” he said. “I did feel a connection and that Poughkeepsie had a heart and a soul in this, and really had felt it.”

At the same time, Ross became a member of the Kiwanis Club of Poughkeepsie and the group was looking for a community service project. Ross pitched them the idea of obtaining a beam and building a park around it. They liked the idea, so Ross pitched it to then mayor John C. Tkazyik.

“He liked it but asked me to take care of it,” Ross said. “I had never done anything like that before and it was a process, applying in writing to the Port Authority for a beam from the World Trade Center, which was stored in a warehouse at JKF Airport. The paperwork took months.”

During this time, Ross also went from business to business, knocking on doors and asking for monetary and supply donations.

“I was genuinely, honestly amazed by the number of people who said yes and they didn't know me and they had no idea what I was going to do,” he said. “They gave money and supplies, and even volunteered. They accepted being part of what was going on.”

Ross was assisted by Sen. Sue Serino and former Senator Terry Gipson in his quest.

“They were very happy to help me and we finally got word that they were saving a 20-foot beam from the North Tower and they needed someone to pick it up,” Ross said.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a 20-foot beam, but instead it was a 16-inch beam. Ross was crushed.

“I called the Port Authority and told them it was unacceptable,” he said. “They found two beams from the South Tower, one was 9-foot long and one was 11-foot long. Then one day, six years ago, police and fire departments from the city and other organizations, went down in a motorcade and picked up the two beams, brought them to Poughkeepsie, and we started the process of building the park.”

The 9/11 Memorial Park, outside Poughkeepsie’s City Hall on Civic Center Plaza, was Ross’ passion, but he didn’t quite believe it would ever get finished.

“I told my wife Shelley several times that it was never going to happen,” he said. “But when you’re a teacher for as long as I was, you learn to be very organized and to rely on people who are smarter than you are. I brought in people who were in construction, and who were architects, parks people and politicians, and we all got together and decided this was something that we wanted to do.”

With the park now open for people to enjoy and as a place to remember, Ross’ first project was complete, but he realized he enjoyed working on parks and didn’t want to stop.

Now he’s working on making all local parks handicapped accessible, starting with Red Wing Park in Hopewell Junction. Ross is working with the committee for the Think Differently initiative that County Executive Marc Molinaro has put together.

“Again, I'm trying to surround myself with very smart people and we're going to make sure that these parks in Dutchess County are up to Mr. Molinaro’s standards," Ross said. "So I’m involved on the local level and the county level.”

Ross said he wants everyone to have access to the parks that he loves.

“Parks are amazing,” he said. “You take your children and your grandchildren there, you eat there, you have music and art there. The greatest cities in the world have great parks and I think parks are a connection between a municipality and the people who live there. It’s so important to look at people and see what's best for everyone. We have swings that a wheelchair can fasten to and we put a wheelchair on the lake — that was paid for by Royal Carting.”

When it comes to retirement, Ross wasn’t into packing it up and traveling the world.

“I did that for a while with my wife Shelley and then we went to Florida for a couple months,” he said. “We have three beautiful grandchildren and we babysit for them, but I have always been taught that a person's duty is to help others. My years at Kiwanis have also taught me that you need to help others in different ways. One of the ways for me was to build a park, and that park in Poughkeepsie will be there, hopefully as long as Poughkeepsie will be there. That’s retirement for me and I enjoy it.”

Lisa Iannucci is a freelance writer. Contact her at features@poughkeepsiejournal.com

Building parks

Red Wing Park: http://www.eastfishkillny.org/Government/redwingpark.htm

Kiwanis Club of Poughkeepsie: http://poughkeepsiekiwanis.org

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