Cutting, trimming and general cleanup marked last April’s cleanup of the recently designated “Woidyla Landing” and “Woidyla Way.” (Photographs by Jay Saulnier for WHAV News.)
Steven F. Woidyla.
The Steven F. Woidyla Landing and Trail, near Round Pond, is to be formally dedicated Saturday morning.
The public is welcome to attend the memorial to Woidyla, a longtime Haverhill conservation agent who passed away at age 72 in August after a three-and-a-half-year battle with pancreatic cancer. A ceremony takes place beginning at 10 a.m., Saturday, on the Stanley Drive side of Round Pond, said City Councilor Thomas J. Sullivan. Sullivan spearheaded the effort to clean the pond entrance and dedicate the trail.
“Steve is a life-long resident of our city, having grown up on 11th Avenue and now living on 18th Avenue—not far from Round Pond. As a child Steve and his dad and the Woidyla family would fish and hike and ice skate at Round Pond, often at the very location we are looking to dedicate in his name tonight,” Sullivan said in a tribute a year ago. At the time, city councilors voted to name the trail in Woidyla’s honor.
More than 40 volunteers turned out at the end of April to clear tree limbs and other debris from the area. They included Woidyla’s wife Lorraine, son Steven and other family and friends; Conservation Officer Mark Sheehan; and members of the Parks Department.
Good man, a well deserved honor. Thanks to Mr Sullivan.