Long-time Easton Conservation Commission member Steve Corti was honored on December 30 for his decades of service on the commission with a plaque attached to a rock by Boulder Island Pond (the first pond on Seven Pond Trail).
Corti retired earlier this year after having served 21 years on the commission. In addition to being an active member of the commission, he single-handedly led the maintenance of the town-owned Paine Open Space on Maple Road. That work included the cutting and removing of fallen trees after each storm so that the trails could remain passable and safe for citizens.
“We cannot estimate the number of hours he put in during those years and the money the town saved by his help,” said Dori Wollen, chair of the Conservation Commission. “Suffice to say that we never had any problems with safety. And all of it was thanks to his volunteer labor.”
Corti’s son, Kevin, helped him several times and he worked very closely with the Highway Department, Ed Nagy, Don and Jay Perkins and others. Peter Smith, a neighbor, and Mike Wallace of the Aspetuck Land Trust also assisted Corti at different times throughout the year, Wollen said.
Several commission members along with Nagy, Perkins and Corti’s family were on hand to celebrate his service. Commemorating the event was a book of photographs of the Paine Open Space taken by fellow commission member Dave Sylvestro.
