New CAST 'Imagination' Playground Honors Memory Of Loyal Supporter

SOUTHOLD, NY — Elinor May dedicated her life to giving back to the community — and on Sunday, a playground will be unveiled to honor her memory.

The Center for Advocacy, Support & Transformation, or CAST, installed the new Imagination Playground, named by Southold resident Elinor M. May as part of CAST’s "Build What Matters" capital campaign to relocate CAST to its new permanent home on Main Road in Southold.

The playground dedication and grand opening will be held on Sunday, April 2 at 1 p.m. at CAST, located at 53930 Main Road in Southold. The playground dedication event will recognize May and her family and the support of local business organization, LeTip of the North Fork, which helped make the playground a reality with "fundraising and sweat equity," CAST said.

The event is open to the public and for the children of clients and volunteers. It’s also Worldwide Autism Awareness Day and three-time Grammy nominee and popular local folk singer Brady Rymer and The Little Band That Could are paying tribute at a 2 p.m. family concert in CAST’s Treiber Hall. It is free to the public. To register, click here.

May, a long-time CAST supporter, died in May, 2022, leaving behind 11 children, many of whom helped complete the playground project, CAST said.

The area was prepped for installation by client/volunteer Rudy Ticuru and his family and friends plus volunteers Osiel Gomez Gonzales and Ernesto Contreras.

Then, it was "all hands on deck" as May family members Jeff May, Matt McDonnell and Kathy May, Nancy May and Skip and Patti Pettit led the volunteer crew under the supervision of project manager Fred Druck of Laurel — who spent 40 years building playgrounds for schools and churches in New York City, CAST added.

"It is such a pleasure to see the Elinor M. May Playground completed. I’ve been following the progress over time, from the capital campaign, to the design phase to volunteering on the assembly team," daughter Kathy May said. "Now I can’t wait to see lots of kids playing here. Who knows, maybe I’ll get to see some of Mom’s great grandchildren enjoying it."

Joining the crew for the four-day build were Lorraine and Steve Heitel, Peter Sr. and Peter Jr. Treiber plus their crew from Treiber Farms, Brooke Parrett and Vas Koyzreff, Maria McBride, Eileen Killeen, Carol Brown, Dag Haraldson, Brett Keller, Michael Chacon, Dan Diviney, Norma Diaz Rodriguez and Roberto Ochoa.

CAST Executive Director Cathy Demeroto said she is thrilled to unveil the playground.

"The Elinor M. May Imagination Playground will soon be filled with happy children who visit CAST during food distributions, outdoor concerts and movies, and other fun events and programs for children," she said.

On June 14, the latest roster of ParentChild+ Program families will come to CAST for graduation and an outdoor barbecue. The PC+ Program is an early literacy and parent support program for at-risk preschoolers and their families.

In addition, the Summer Rise Program has been renewed for a second year by its funder, the Horace and Amy Hagedorn Fund. Summer Rise is CAST's six-week, full-day academic, arts and activity program for elementary school children still impacted by the loss of learning and isolation of the COVID lockdowns.

"CAST education programs serve many underserved and at-risk children in our community and we are so excited that all these little learners will now have a safe and interactive space to climb, slide and play," Demeroto said.