By Mark Reynolds
Last week the Pavilion at the Bob Shepard Highland Landing Park was dedicated to Leonard M. Auchmoody in honor of his dedication and commitment to transform an old oil depot into a beautiful riverside town park.
Alan Van De Bogart, President of the Highland Landing Park Association, said, “It has taken a community to build this park and we have many people to thank for it and today we’re going to thank Lenny Auchmoody.”
Auchmoody became Park Manager of the project after Matt Smith’s tenure.
“Lenny further guided the build-out of the park to this day, which is essentially complete and further development would be for refinements,” Van De Bogart said. “It is impossible for me to enumerate all the things that Lenny has done down here. He worked countless hours and through a difficult time in his life when his beloved wife Linda passed away. He stayed on and dedicated himself to this project. Lenny, we all thank you.”
Superintendent Dave Plavchak said he is honored to thank Auchmoody for his dedication to the park.
“There are not many people who have worked harder than Lenny on this park, and I know there were a lot of people involved in it, but there are very few who are as passionate about it and we love him for it,” Plavchak said.
Plavchak asked people to imagine what life would be in our town, state and country if there were hundreds of people working together and with the drive of Lenny Auchmoody.
“He put forth the effort and achieved an outcome that you could see,” Plavchak said. “I think it’s something we all should be proud of and I think it’s something that we should continue to thank Lenny and all of the other volunteers.”
Nancy Hammond said under Auchmoody’s leadership, dedication, imagination and hard work the park has been transformed into more than an acre of green grass, picnic tables, a boat launch, a dock, a kayak launch and a completed education building.
“Lenny epitomizes the spirit of the Bob Shepard Highland Landing Park and on behalf of the town, the board of trustees and myself, this honor is well deserved and well overdue. Lenny, thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she said.
Russ Gilmore said, “Lenny put a lot of his personal touches into this project, so when it was all done, we said we’ve got to name it for Lenny and now we have this beautiful pavilion that has your name.”
Afterward, Lenny said he knew something was afoot when he came down to the park and saw his family standing in the pavilion. He said the idea to transform the oil depot into a park was hatched twenty years ago and he has been working steadily on it for a “solid” fifteen years.
Auchmoody said when he was two weeks old his mother brought him to a family she knew, the Robinson’s on North Road, who ended up raising him. Now at 75, he said he will never forgot the support and kindness that he received from the town.
“When I got the opportunity to come down here to the Landing I was ecstatic because I wanted to leave something behind to the town that accepted me; that’s how it ended up.” he said. “My grandchildren can come down here and maybe my great grandchildren someday.”