Remembering Lenny Joyner: Former Eagle Scout's Bridge Dedicated

Family members, colleagues and fellow volunteers gathered at Graham Hills Park in Mount Pleasant Monday to remember Leonard "Lenny" Joyner, Jr., a Pleasantville High School graduate, Pleasantville Fire Department member and New York City paramedic.

Joyner was 31 when he took a tragic fall while on a solo mountain climbing trip in Colorado this past July.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino spoke Monday about a project Joyner completed as a teenage Boy Scout—a bridge he built at one of the park's trails over a stream.

"I remember it very well," said Astorino, who was a Town of Mount Pleasant board member when Joyner's project was in the works.

Joyner's father, Leonard Sr., said his son was passionate about the bridge and began designing it at age 15.

"This bridge, truly, to Lenny, to all of the members in Troop 5 was hugely important," Joyner said.

He recalled camping out with Lenny and his fellow scouts, ranging in age from 12 to 15, just upstream from where the bridge now stands.

The bridge remains in good condition today.

"And now, as a father of three, I take my kids to walks through Graham Hills and we go over this bridge all the time," Astorino said. "It's nice to know that every time I will do it in the future, I will remember who built it and the importance it is to not only Westchester, but in particular here in Graham Hills, which is one of our popular parks."

A brand new plaque unveiled at the bridge Monday dedicates the structure to Joyner's memory.

"Here it is, 16 years later, and I can't even guess how many tens of thousands of people crossed this bridge," Joyner said.

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