On the south side of the Town of Marlboro there is a sign in the St. Mary’s Church parking lot pointing to a nature trail that was spearheaded by the late Tony Falco, who died at the age of 65 in 2021.

Last Saturday, friends and family gathered at the trail head to honor Falco by dedicating the trail in his name. A rock with a plaque was placed beside a kiosk with the inscription: “This trail is dedicated to the memory of Tony Falco, whose vision and dedication made the Marlboro Nature Trail a reality.”

Howard Baker said planning for the trail began in earnest during the pandemic by a committee that eventually secured the 32-acre parcel from Tilcon, a construction and aggregate company.

Baker said Matt Kierstead and Falco, “scoped out the site and thought it would be ideal for a trail leading from the Marlboro hamlet area down to the confluence of two major streams to the Hudson River.” Tilcon eventually granted the town a 25 year lease on the property.

Baker said that after the Greenway Community Grants Program ceased funding for trail construction due to the pandemic, Falco, along with Roger Coleman, family and friends took it upon themselves and, “without fanfare began the grueling work to create a network of trails nearly 1.5 miles in length...They used an old beat-up town-owned skid steer and picks, shovels and chain saws to open up the thickly overgrown underbrush to create a beautiful trail system.” The trail was officially opened on December 6, 2020.

Falco thought the trail should be named the Marlboro Nature Trail and not for himself, but after his passing Baker said the trail committee, “felt he should be recognized in some way and that is why we are here today. Tony was a visionary, an instigator and a doer and we all admired him for that. We hope this dedication today will help remind everyone who visits this trail how much he has done for this town.”

Former Supervisor Al Lanzetta called Falco a “gift to Marlborough. He was an environmentalist and a visionary and he put Marlborough on the map. His insistence of doing every project well was balanced by his peaceful kindness and willingness to listen to others...I can’t believe that he is gone but at the same time, I believe that he is still with us in our hearts. He has left a legacy that will bless our community forever.”

Current Town Supervisor Scott Corcoran said, “One word to describe Tony is he was a dreamer and always had an outlook for Marlborough that we do better and better. He once said to me that he wants to put the Falcon [music venue] here to attract people into our town. I will never forget Tony’s smile and look, and always the ability to make others do things that maybe they didn’t want to do and he didn’t want to take credit for, but we all pulled together and we did it. Thank you Tony for everything you did for our community, I love ya, and God bless.”

Dave Zambito recalled that once Falco decided on a course of action for a project there was no stopping him.

“People would say it can’t be done and he would just go and do it,” Zambito said. “When he said he was going to turn Carmen’s Kitchen Cabinets into a music venue and a restaurant, I said nobody’s coming to Marlboro [for that] but Tony made it happen. The guy had foresight that a lot of people didn’t have.”

Zambito said when the nature trail was just an idea, “I wasn’t surprised that Tony was behind it...He was an asset to our community and now he is a great loss to our community, but hopefully other people can learn to use him as an example; when you’re in a small town and you want to see things progress, don’t go bitch and moan about everything, get out there and do something, and he was the epitome of that.”

Ulster County Legislator Tom Corcoran said he wished to speak as Falco’s friend. He said he and Tony were able to expand the school districts horizons that moved the school board to support, “extra curricular activities to keep these kids doing things that they loved. It didn’t matter if it was baseball or football, if it was drama, if it was band or music, that was 100% acceptable and encouraged. With Tony’s help, we were able to change the mindset of the school district and new school board members. Thank God we had Tony Falco in this town, and his legacy and the Falcon name will last forever.”

B.J. Mikkelsen, of Meet Me in Marlborough, pointed out that the town has three trails; the Wine Trail, the Farm Trail and now the Nature Trail, “yet another attraction to this area.

“Tony was a builder, he built his water business, he built the Falcon, he built the trail and he was just an incredible person,” Mikkelsen said.

Tony’s son, Julian Falco, said the dedication to his father, “is a testament to his many achievements in many fields, not only in the Arts, but in the environmental field. He was an amazing man and we were lucky to have him.”