Mayor & council recognized Gary Bundy for his quarter of a century volunteer service to the Roselle Park Youth Baseball & Softball League (RPYBSL) at their May 5th meeting. Mr. Bundy was previously recognized at the 2016 RPYBSL Opening Day last month but the governing body wanted to officially have the borough recognize his work and dedication to the youth of Roselle Park.
Presented by Second Ward Councilman Joseph Petrosky along with Mayor Carl Hokanson, Gary Bundy humbly accepted the certificate and recognition.
“Gary did so much for the league,” said Councilman Petrosky, “He ran the tournament for the girls and it became a top-notch tournament . . . We appreciate all you did . . . Gary, thank you very much for the service to the kids of this community. You actually coached my daughter, too. It was a pleasure.”
Mayor Hokanson added, “Gary’s done so much for this town and for the youth of this borough. Not only did he coach and do so many other things, umpiring and that . . . There was a time that actually us old-timers were digging ditches to bring the waterline so the high school could water down the fields. It was an honor to be there that day to see you get honored by the little league and it’s an honor to have you here. It’s a pleasure.”
Even though he was fighting a cold, Gary said a few words, “I just wanted to say thank you . . . We tend to forget a lot of things quickly but there’s a couple of people sitting up here tonight that did a lot – there’s been a ton of people who did a lot for the little league – but a special thanks to Ken [Blum], Doreen [Cali] . . . Mayor Joe [DeIorio]. People already don’t remember but the little league [field] was shut down for a lot of years because of the contamination issue . . . there was a time that we really doubted whether [it] was all going to come back together . . . There’s a lot of people in a lot of years that have done an awful lot and I just wanted to say ‘thank you’.”
Gary Bundy, as well as being a volunteer for youth baseball is also the municipal judge for the borough.