Historical sign at Deer Lake restored months after the Eagle Scout project built in father's honor vandalized

It was mid-August when Kadyn Neale's Eagle Scout project, a historical sign at Deer Lake on the North Babylon-West Islip border installed just months earlier, was torn from its posts and thrown into the woods.

"Nothing but two posts" was left, said Joseph Fatuzzo, scoutmaster of Troop 399 in North Babylon, "and then all the plants that were here were destroyed."

The vandalism set in motion a community-based effort to rebuild and restore Kadyn Neale's marker, which he dedicated to his father, Dave Neale, who died at age 54.

"It’s good that the community came together to bring back the sign," said Kadyn Neale, 18, who is now studying civil engineering at North Carolina A&T State University. "I gave back to the community, and the community gave back to me by helping with rebuilding the sign."

Jimmy White remembers searching alongside his wife to find the sign, including in the dried-up lake. He found it a couple dozen feet deep in a wooded area bordering the Southern State Parkway.

"We spent 20 minutes looking for it," said White, vice president of the Parkdale Civic Association.

The sign was intact and served as the centerpiece of the all-hands-on-deck response that culminated on Saturday with a rededication of the public space.

The sign shares the history of Deer Lake, dating to its origins as Guggenheim Lake on the over 1,000-acre property owned by Lt. Col. M. Robert Guggenheim, a World War I veteran, capitalist and diplomat who bought the plot around 1917.

There, he built a home and horse stables and "was also known to have bred some of the finest dogs at his kennels," reads the historical marker.

Kadyn Neale said the sign would serve as a memorial to his father, Newsday has reported.

"There were hard times because it's a lot of work to become an Eagle Scout," he said. "He would always help me through it, so I just wanted to dedicate a sign to him as a tribute."

Fatuzzo said the destruction of the sign led to an immediate response from neighbors and local community groups looking to reestablish the site.

"The community stepped up and helped us rebuild it," Fatuzzo said.

The North Babylon Lions Club, which charters Troop 399, helped pay for the repairs of the sign, which is now framed in metal instead of wood, and McNulty Outdoors, a New Hyde Park-based landscaping company, donated native plants to be replanted beneath the historical marker, Fatuzzo said.

Patrice Neale, Kadyn's mother, of Deer Park, said the outpouring of love for her son’s work "has been a great feeling in a world these days that’s so mean."

Her son put in "a lot of time" to complete the project, she said, adding that she's "very grateful to everyone in the community" who helped bring it back to life.

Suffolk County Legis. Steven J. Flotteron (R-Brightwaters), whose district includes the lake, said the rebuilding of the marker brought the community even closer.

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ