Yorktown Town Board Explores Town with Outdoor Summer Meeting Schedule

From Yorktown Town Clerk Alice Roker:

The Yorktown Town Board will kick off its Annual Outdoor Meeting Schedule on July 2 at the Yorktown Community and Cultural Center on Commerce Street. Built in 1936 as a part of Yorktown Central School District #2, the building is now known to many as “the old sixth grade” school.  

Brian Gray, Superintendent of the Parks and Recreation Department, will welcome the Town Board to a newly landscaped area surrounding the walking track which Gray describes as the most used recreational facility in Yorktown. Rain or shine; day or night; 365 days a year, someone is always walking on the  track.

Mr. Gray’s first year as Parks Superintendent culminated with the First Annual Holiday Lights Parade. Hundreds of people lined the ball field to witness the lighting of a newly planted holiday tree marking the start of the holiday season in Yorktown.

On July 16, 2013, the Town Board will travel to the Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center run by Westchester County. This is a working crop farm and environmental education center. Originally, totaling more than 445 acres, the site was developed and run by members of the Underhill Family beginning in the 1600s.

Henry Christal purchased the farm during the 1940s raising prize winning Guernsey cows, Morgan horses and chickens. In 2003, Westchester County purchased the farm to provide watershed protection and agricultural education. Lucille Munz, the Farm Manager will discuss some of the upcoming programs.

On Aug. 6, 2013, The Brian J. Slavin Acquatic Facility (aka Shrub Oak Pool) will be the location of the Town Board Meeting. The facility, renamed in honor of the former Parks and Recreation Superintendent Brian Slavin, is part of land dedicated as parkland by the Yorktown Town Board after World War II.

The property was originally made up of two ball fields and a pond and managed by the Shrub Oak Park Commission, a volunteer group.  The Commission was abolished and the Yorktown Parks and Recreation Commission created during the 1960’.

After 30 years in operation, the Shrub Oak Pool was renovated and reopened in 2001. Over the years, a new ball field and a in-line hockey rink have been added to the property.