Community Corner
CT Irish Society Donates Greenway Bench in Honor of Hamden Man
Bench will be dedicated in Tom Slater's honor on Oct. 2.
A Hamden man, Navy veteran and former Yale University employee with a long list of accomplishments will be honored next week when a bench is dedicated in his name on the Farmington Canal Greenway.
Tom Slater served in the Navy for five years and worked at Yale University for 38 years. For more than two decades he was a member of the Connecticut Irish American Historical Society, for which he also served as treasurer. It is that organization that is donating the bench in his honor to the town's Farmington Canal Commission.
The bench will sit along the greenway on Sherman Avenue near the Cascade banquet facility. It's there where on Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. the dedication will take place, after which refreshements will be served.
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Slater, who was married to Noreen Slater, served as treasurer of the New Haven Gaelic Football and Hurling Club and as chairman of the Connecticut Irish Festival. He was a member of the New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee for 30 years, coordinated the parade for 10 of those years and served as a Grand Marshal of the parade.
Slater also served on the Hamden Memorial Day Parade Committee, the Hamden Veteran’s Commission and the Columbus Day Parade Committee. In 2003 he received the Seton Award from Yale Univ. in recognition of his community service. He also received the 2003 Irish Cultural Award and the 2006 Irish Appreciation Award.
For information on the dedication, contact George Waldron at 203-281-1742, Finbarr Moynihan at 203-272-0118 or Vince and Mary McMahon at 203-795-6309.
