Glenville's Pizza and Wing Bowl to raise funds for Veterans Legacy Park project

A sign reading "Future Home of Legacy Park" — PHOTOGRAPHER: Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge

The future site of Legacy Park, the Capital Region Veterans Memorial, located at the corner of Dutch Meadows Lane and North Ballston Road in Glenville.

GLENVILLE – The Town of Glenville and Mohawk Honda are teaming up for a fundraiser this Thursday to benefit Legacy Park, The Capital Region Veterans Memorial Park project.

The Pizza and Wing Bowl returns this Thursday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Mohawk Honda, after it could not happen the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Every ticket sold, the funds are going to the Legacy Park project,” Glenville Supervisor Chris Koetzle said. “We’re limited to 100 tickets, so our restaurants can plan out for how much food to bring. You can’t get tickets at the door, you have to get them ahead of time.”

The event is anticipated to raise $2,000 from ticket sales and potentially additional funds from any donations made at the event. Tickets are available for purchase online or in-person at the Town Municipal Center.

“Each restaurant will be there with their table and their pizza and/or wings,” Koetzle said. “And for $20, you get to sample every one of them. There’s seven local businesses, and then there’s a ballot and people can vote for best wing, and best pizza and the prize to those winners is Mohawk Honda is going to cater an event for their employees using those restaurants.”

Pizza and/ or wings will be available from: Ruggiero’s, Slice of Glenville, Pizza Works, Maxon’s American Grill, Mohawk Taproom, TJ’s Flightline and Turf Tavern.

Tickets are available online through Mohawk Honda’s Facebook event page and in-person at Town Hall. Tickets cost $20 for adults and $15 for children under 15.

“Veterans Park is a big project for the town, were proud to have, and we really want to have a place to honor our veterans,” Koetzle said “There’s a lot of work ahead of us, we’re putting in trails, monuments, we’re putting in meeting space, an amphitheater. There’s a lot of work to be done, and we’re trying to raise money to make that happen.”

The park is being built on six acres of land at the intersection of Dutch Meadows Lane and Route 50 in Glenville. The space will have memorials, a welcome center, an amphitheater, a Veterans Cafe, a military museum and more. It is designed to be a space where veterans, their families and the public can come, president of the Capital Region Veterans Memorial, Mary Brandt, explained.

The Legacy Park will also have walking paths which were rough-cut last spring, Brandt said. The space will have monuments about different military conflicts.

The project first began about seven years ago, Brandt said. Previous fundraising efforts have raised about $100,000, and the park may cost between $2 million and $3 million. She explained some community members have offered to help with parts of the project, such as helping pour concrete and assisting with the parking lot construction. The group has also been applying for grant funding she explained.

“The funding is important, because what we’re trying to do is build a place where we can have veterans, their family and the public come, relax, make friends, obtain information,” Brandt said. “We’re going to have resources available for our veterans. We’ve had various organizations that have different specialties that have offered to come help us help the veteran with whatever they’re struggling with at the time.”

Thursday’s fundraiser will be the fourth year the town and Mohawk Honda have partnered together for the Pizza and Wing Bowl, said Nick Koetzle, digital content creator at Mohawk Honda.

“We’re happy to see the community come together over such a good cause, and some of the best food in the area,” Nick Koetzle said.

Legacy Park will be a great place for veterans to get resources and share in camaraderie, Nick Koetzle explained.

“Its a family fun event, and it’s going to be a great time,” Nick Koetzle said.