When Vincent Siderine, a community member who had been active in Scouting for over 50 years, passed away in 1997 friends and former scouts spent over a year considering an appropriate way to honor his memory. Recently the Vince Siderine Tribute Fund Committee decided that building a climbing tower on the grounds of the Schiff Scout Reservation, formerly known as Camp Wauwepex, would be the perfect way to honor the man who affected so many children's lives.

Siderine started out as a Boy Scout in Brooklyn. When he turned 18 he stayed on as an assistant scout master for his troop. He went on to serve as an assistant scoutmaster for a troop in Mississippi while he was in the army. After his discharge from the army, Siderine and his wife, Mary, moved to Massapequa where they raised a large family. As his sons reached scouting age, Siderine became active in the scouting program once again. From the '50s through the '90s, five decades, Vincent Siderine helped to mold the youth of Massapequa. It was not only the scouts that he worked with, he was involved in many aspects of the community and reached out to many of the youngsters.

According to Carol Aarseth, a tribute fund committee member, "It gave him a lot of joy to work with all these people."

Siderine never stopped his involvement with the Boy Scout Troop 5, of which he was a former scoutmaster and committee member, until his death. Even when his children were no longer a part of the troop he still played an active role with the scouts. According to the tribute fund committee, "He led scouts on camping trips and high adventure expeditions. He taught them the fundamentals of cooking, camping, hiking, and knot tying. More importantly, he taught them what it meant to be good citizens in the community, state and country." Siderine made it possible for many Massapequa boys to participate in life-enriching activities that they might not have been able to enjoy otherwise.

The climbing tower at Schiff Scout Reservation, in Wading River, will be part of the camp's COPE (Challenging Outdoor Physical Encounter) Course, where scouts are taught teamwork. While the camp already has 35-foot climbing towers they are looking to build a larger tower, which is what the Vince Siderine Tribute would be. This course was something that Siderine really enjoyed doing with the children and the committee decided that this would be an appropriate tribute. This course is used by children all over Long Island.

The committee hopes to have this project completed by the fall of 2000. It is expected that the cost to build and maintain the tower will be approximately $15,000. The committee received their first $25 last week and are looking, not only for financial contributions, but for contributions of time and equipment. Anyone who would like to contribute can make their checks payable to Vince Siderine Tribute Fund, c/o Ken Gay, 3832 Hickory Street, Seaford, NY 11783 or write to the committee letting them know what you want to contribute. The committee has also set up a web site so people can contact them or get information about the fund and updates on what has been received and what is still needed. The web address is: www.iamtigerwoods.com/mrsidfund.

According to Aarseth, "He was really admired by a lot of people. Age was no barrier to him. A lot of people just loved this man. He was just so good with kids and he brought so much to the troop and not just to the kids but to the adults, the parents and we want to keep something like this going because this is what he would want to do."