Doughboy Park

The Daily Plant : Friday, June 1, 2001

RENOVATION OF DOUGHBOY PARKS’ WWI MEMORIAL BEGINS

On Monday May 28, a shovel of dirt commenced restoration of the Doughboy monument in Doughboy Park in Woodside, Queens. The reconstruction was symbolically launched on Monday as a tribute to the many veterans celebrated and remembered on Memorial Day.

$200,000, provided by Council Member Walter (Woodsider) McCaffrey, will help improve the plaza area with new benches, fences, and greenery. According to the design by Steve Whitesell and Helen Ogrands, decorative panels will also be added. Engraved on the panels will be the names of eleven major World War I campaigns and seven major battles.

The groundbreaking was attended by Council Members Walter (Woodsider) McCaffrey and John (Pathfinder) Sabini, and Joseph (Orchard) Conley, Chair of Community Board Two. Members of the Catholic War Veterans were also on hand beside community members and Parkies.

The name doughboy comes from the First World War when British soldiers referred to their American counterparts as "doughboys" because of the round buttons on their uniforms that resembled biscuits. Although Doughboy Park did not receive its official name until 1971, since 1923, members of the Woodside community have gathered there on Memorial Day for patriotic ceremonies.

By Brenna (Tuscany) Sevano

TOMORROW IS NATIONAL TRAILS DAY

Saturday, June 2 will be a nationwide celebration of trails and the people who build and maintain them. In New York City, Parks and the Neighborhood Open Space Coalition will host a ceremony to dedicate the first New York link of the East Coast Greenway along the Mosholu-Pelham Greenway. The ceremony will be held at Pelham Parkway at Holland Avenue in the Bronx. A recreational walk will leave from that site at 11:00 a.m., and a celebratory bike ride will leave from the north side of the Central Park Boathouse at 9:00 a.m. For more information, contact the Neighborhood Open Space Coalition at (212) 352-9330.

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Friday, June 3, 1988)

MANHATTAN BEACH PLAYGROUND NAMED FOR PARKIE PAT PARLATO

For 17 years Pat Parlato worked on the maintenance staff at Manhattan Beach. As a CPW, he was responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of one of Brooklyn's seaside playgrounds until he passed away and suddenly on January 4. Yesterday friends and relatives joined Parks at a ceremony to name the beach's playground at Falmouth Street and Oriental Boulevard in Parlato's honor.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"We do not like flowers that do
not wilt; they must die, and nine
she-camel hairs aid memory."

Marianne Moore (1887-1972)