East Rockaway dedicates senior center to former mayor
Charles H. Formont a 'John Wayne kind of hero'
Friends and family of former Mayor Charles H. Formont gathered for a ceremony on James Street for the renaming of the senior center, which will from now on be called The Mayor Charles H. Formont East Rockaway Senior Citizen Center.
“It was very important to Mayor Ed [Sieban] that the many accomplishments of Mayor Formont be recognized and memorialized in an appropriate and suitable way,” said Deputy Mayor Richard Meagher, in his speech to the crowd. “He therefore approached Charley’s widow, Lorrie Formont, and began a dialogue that has brought us here today.”
As a village trustee under Mayor Irving Shaw, Formont was part of the team which built the original smaller Senior Center on the same site (the center is located on James Street, behind Village Hall on Atlantic Avenue). As mayor, Formont created the larger and more attractive structure that stands there today. “It is right and it is just that this senior center be dedicated today and to be forever known as the Mayor Charles H. Formont Senior Center.”
Building Department Superintendent Dennis McCabe listed many of Formont’s accomplishments during his time as mayor.
“Charley Formont has done a lot for this village,” McCabe said, “including acquiring the property at White Cannon Point, which was the first key piece we needed to start the waterfront revitalization program. He was instrumental in modernizing the fire department’s communication system, and rebuilding Minore Park and the John Street baseball field. Charlie was really a ‘quiet do-er’ — that is how I will always remember him — a man who said very little but did a lot.”
Rev. Mark Lukens of the Bethany Congregational Church, said that Formont loved this community “not in a loud way ... but with truth and actions.”
Formont’s widow, Lorrie, thanked the crowd, the village and the speakers, and also thanked the village board for recognizing and honoring her husband.
“Rededicating and renaming [this building is a great honor,” she said. “He was a truly remarkable and caring human being, and he has left his imprint on East Rockaway, a village that he truly, truly loved.”
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