The East Williston Board of Trustees Monday night honored the village’s Little League team, which won the District 28 championship earlier this year. Mayor Bonnie Parente also announced funding has been secured for the dog park at Roslyn Road Park. 

Parente, who said Monday night marked her favorite meeting of the year, commended the players, coaches and families for their commitment to each other throughout the season. 

“This team and these coaches go out and make us look good,” Parente told the audience. “We are honored that you go out there and represent us.”

The Under-12 East Williston Wildcats won the 2023 Williamsport District 28 Majors championship and were sectional finalists. 

The team’s players are Jack Basner, EJ Cardoza, Giancarlo Contorno, Peter Donohue, Logan Fisher, Gabriel Gennawey, Joshua Khantses, Connor Lai, Humphrey Li, Grayson McCauley, Samuel Salerno and Michael Sklow. This year’s coaches were Thomas McCauley, Philip Basner, Mike Sklow and Brian Fisher. 

Both the players and coaches were given proclamations for their achievements this year from the board and the office of Nassau County Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park). 

McCauley, who is in his final year as coach, spoke about the “special” group of boys, who won their respective districts for three straight years. 

“I hope East Williston has another group like this,” McCauley said. “It’s going to be tough because these boys are so special and worked so hard and have represented our community the best that they could.”

The coach said the team “fought their hearts out” against bigger programs such as Port Washington, Manhasset, Rockville Centre and Massapequa, among others. He also thanked his fellow coaches Basner, Fisher and Sklow for being the best coaching staff possible.

“The baseball IQ that these guys brought, their love of the game and the love of these kids, it’s like nothing I can even explain,” McCauley said. 

In unrelated village news, Parente said Girl Scout Bree Janicek was able to receive funding to lay down the surfacing and fencing needed for the dog park, which will be proposed to the North Hempstead Town Board as a smaller footprint than before in a slightly different location to avoid cutting down a tree. 

The dog park project, which Janicek is working on in honor of her late friend Anthony Leva Jr., was put on hold earlier this year while other options were being reconsidered.

The town board earlier this year authorized the creation of a dog park at Roslyn Road and Lee Avenue park once funding had been secured. The project will be funded privately and not with taxpayer dollars.

The village board also approved a local law that expanded the Public Conduct Code that prohibits the vaping, ingestion or smoking of cannabis and tobacco in public spaces, public urination and disorderly conduct. Parente said one of the

 reasons for expanding the code was so the village’s security officer could issue tickets for violations if needed.

The next East Williston Board of Trustees meeting will be held on Monday, Jan. 8.