SOMERS, N.Y. - As they say, a town is only as great as the residents who make it up.
Don Penzine is one of the folks who has helped to make Somers special, says Supervisor Robert Scorrano.
He was recognized recently for his dedication, generosity, and love of community.
Scorrano and the Town Board presented the 94-year-old with a proclamation highlighting his contributions as his wife, Peggy, looked on proudly from the audience.
Friday, May 8, was declared Don Penzine Day and the honoree’s name was up in lights at the entrance of his beloved Reis Park.
Penzine has been a member of the town’s Parks and Recreation Board since 1996, a role in which he vigorously supported the growth and improvement of Reis Park and of the Somers Library.
Luckily, he’s hung in there long enough to see many of those dreams come to fruition, including the proposed $10.7 million revamp of athletic facilities at Reis.
The project includes two synthetic turf playing fields, six pickleball courts, a renovated basketball court, a spray park, restroom, lighting upgrades, and improved ADA-access.
Penzine also had served on the town’s July 4th Picnic Committee and was co-chair of its Bicentennial Committee from 1984 to 1988.
He is a member and former president of the local Lions Club and had sat on the Somers Board of Education.
Penzine has also once chaired the Somers Democratic Committee. (He later switched parties and became a Republican.)
But the lifelong resident is perhaps best known for having been the town’s official Santa Claus for nearly 30 years.
Penzine likened Somers to his own personal “Lake Woebegone,” the fictional Minnesota town created by author and radio host Garrison Keillor.
It’s famously described as a place “where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average,” he said.
“You can fall in love with a lot of people but I also fell in love with my wife, daughter, and this town,” Penzine said, noting that Somers is one of those rare places where you know everybody and everybody knows you.
“I watched Robbie play football for years,” he said, referring to Scorrano, who grew up in Somers. “And now I look at him and I’m very proud to see that the same kid who was great athletically is great as our supervisor.”
Those kinds of lifelong connections are hard to come by, Penzine felt.
“These are the kinds of things you don’t get in big towns. You get that in the little towns,” he said.
Penzine also complimented Town Board members for the way they’re able to put political differences aside and work “as one unit” for the good of the town.
“Thank you, thank you all, mostly for being my friends and thank us all for living in one of the best towns in this county, thanks to this board,” he said.
Councilman Richard Clinchy, one of Penzine’s neighbors, spoke about meeting him for the first time and being impressed with the depth and breadth of his knowledge about Somers.
“I thought ‘This guy really knows that he’s talking about’,” Clinchy recalled, adding that the encounter was just the start of many “philosophical conversations” they’ve had over the years.
The Penzines are moving to Connecticut to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren.
“It’s hard for me to leave here. It’s been a real love affair with this town, but what are you going to do?” he asked Halston Media.
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