”For West Islip’s first Summit, we are looking to get the attention of the entire community and get more residents to volunteer with the Summit Coalition, which would strengthen our efforts to get the attention of our elected officials that West Islip deserves,” said Steve Gellar, co-chair of the West Islip Summit Coalition, who also currently serves as president of the West Islip Board of Education.

 

Gellar and Summit Coalition co-chair Annmarie LaRosa, vice-president of the West Islip Board of Education and local business owner, were the driving force behind forming the Summit Coalition in 2008 that includes a number of local residents representing various segments across West Islip.

 

Officially formed December of 2008, the coalition over the past 10 months has been involved in a number of projects around West Islip that included refurbishing the West Islip Beach and an on-going Food Drive to benefit the food pantries of local churches. In addition, the coalition has also reached out to local elected officials to open a new dialogue about various issues or lend its voice in support of other West Islip civic groups about quality of life concerns.

 

“I have been very pleased not just with the level of volunteerism we have seen from many, but also with the level of cooperation from other civic groups in West Islip,” Gellar said. “I’m also happy that we been able to get involved early on with meaningful projects around the hamlet as well.”

 

In addition, the efforts of coalition members has led to on-going discussions about the construction of a pavilion that would possibly be located on open land between the school district’s transportation depot and the West Islip Public Library on Higbie Lane. First drawings of the pavilion were seen at a recent meeting of the Summit Coalition.

 

“The basic idea of the pavilion is to develop a place to hold community driven events or concerts,” Gellar said. “We are still in the early stages of this idea.”