Brooktondale Community Center establishes Programs Committee

The Brooktondale Community Center (BCC) recently established a Programs Committee to help provide events for the town’s residents to enjoy.

The foundation for the committee was first laid back in 2012, when Lucille Gagliardo, a member of the BCC’s board, built a box to collect returnable cans and bottles to turn in for redemption and raise money for youth programs. The BCC raised $2,500 per year, with especially high collections during the pandemic when people drank more canned beverages.

By the time the BCC established the Programs Committee in January, the purpose for the money went beyond youth programs, Gagliardo said.

“With that much income, we have a nice cushion to start to spend money on real programs,” Gagliardo said. “And so, we decided, not only youth, but we want to address families and just general. So, we decided to call it the Programs Committee.”

Gagliardo, who has been on the BCC’s board since 2018, chairs the Programs Committee. Fellow members include Miaja Cantori, Margaret Frank, Karyn Scott, Emiliy Adams and Barb Schloss. Gagliardo was chosen to lead the committee because of her involvement with the bottle and can drive, as well as because everyone else on the board was busy.

“That’s always the problem with any not-for-profit volunteer organization, … getting the volunteers,” Gagliardo said. “People on board tend to be the ones [that] need to lead.”

All of the committee members besides Schloss are members of the BCC’s board, so Gagliardo hopes to recruit more community members for the committee.

“They don’t have to be board members, but they could certainly contribute some time and their talents, especially if they want to see something at the community center that we’re not offering,” Gagliardo said.

The committee meetings are held separately from the standard board meetings in order to streamline the decision-making process and allow the committee to focus on its job. The committee holds discussions for possible plans that the board may not have time for at its meetings but has no power to make decisions without the board’s approval.

“We might have ideas and make plans, but the entire board will have to approve it,” Gagliardo said. “We would work out the details and make sure that the whole board is on board with it.”

Two of the committee’s first offerings were a dance party March 26 and a game night April 1. Gagliardo may plan on holding more events like them.

“We don’t want to create programs that we think the community could use; we want to hear from the community what they would like to see at the center,” Gagliardo said.

Scott is a member of the committee, having joined the BCC after an unsuccessful attempt at running for Town Board a few years ago. When she heard about the board, she saw it as a way to get involved in the community, especially considering the BCC’s importance to Brooktondale.

Scott said the BCC, with indoor facilities and open areas outside, fulfills a variety of community needs, from sporting events to cooking classes.

“Whether you’re looking for a place to be inside or outside, the BCC can make it happen,” Scott said. “It’s a really versatile facility, and it’s centrally located.”

Scott has six children ranging from 3 to 15 years old. She expressed hope that the BCC can help enrich the community with its programs and is glad to hear when people appreciate the BCC or offer to volunteer.

“When I hear that, that makes me happy,” Scott said. “And when I see kids running around, playing and having fun with their friends, that makes me happy. There’s not a whole lot to do in Brooktondale; we’re a small community. So, to at least have an area and a facility for people to do as they please, with sports, recreation or meeting, and also to have actual facilitated groups that meet, I think it’s a good outreach for the community.”

Gagliardo hopes to use the BCC’s bottle and can funds for the benefit of the community.

“Now we can actually say, ‘Hey, this is what your money, your contribution, is going towards,’” Gagliardo said. “So, come on out and play with us at the community center.”

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