Community

Home Depot employees clean up Wading River park

gym_new

A group of about 14 Home Depot employees needed only half a day to spruce up Riverhead Town’s Police Officers Memorial Park on Bayberry Road in Wading River Wednesday morning.

The group put a new coat of bright red paint on the rusty jungle gym, they donated eight pallets of mulch, fixed a concrete walkway at the park and donated about five new picnic tables to replace some of the older ones that have fallen into disrepair.

Andy Carbone, the general manager of the Riverhead Home Depot, said an employee of the store read a News-Review article about the condition of the park and asked if Home Depot could help.

The article referenced Councilman John Dunleavy comments about the park when he described to his fellow Town Board members the moldy, broken tables, a rusty jungle gym train and cracked swing seats.

Home Depot stores often do projects to help their local community, Mr. Carbone said.

“It’s within our culture of giving back to the community,” he said.

This piece received a fresh coat of paint, which can be seen in the top photo. (Credit: Tim Gannon)
This piece received a fresh coat of paint, which can be seen in the top photo. (Credit: Tim Gannon)

Mr. Carbone met with town parks and recreation supervisor Ray Coyne and councilman Tim Hubbard, the town board liaison for parks and recreation, shortly afterward and visited the site.

Mr. Hubbard publicly thanked Home Depot at Thursday morning’s Town Board work session.

“They sent about a dozen workers down and they did a fantastic job,” he said. “The did repainting, mulching, they built five brand new picnic tables, they fixed the bocce court cement where it was broken and just generally cleaned the place up. It really looks nice.”

Mr. Dunleavy suggested the board give Home Depot a proclamation for its efforts, which were all done on a volunteer basis, and board members agreed. “I love that red train,” Supervisor Sean Walter said.

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New mulch helped spruce up the park. (Credit: Tim Gannon)
New mulch helped spruce up the park. (Credit: Tim Gannon)
Home Depot employees posed for a selfie. (Credit: Courtesy of Michele Cardaci)
Home Depot employees posed for a selfie. (Credit: Courtesy of Michele Cardaci)