Vince Tarducci likes to joke that he’s the gym director of the Bustleton Bengals, an organization that has no gym. Maybe that’s more ironic than it is funny, but it won’t be either before long.
The Bengals are going to get their gym this year, on the grounds of Hayes Playground at Conwell and the Boulevard, where the Bengals play their games in outdoor sports.
The athletic association serves about 1,000 families in and around Greater Bustleton, Tarducci said. Name the sport, and the Bengals probably have a program built around it. Still, the large organization, once the Bustleton Boys Club, hasn’t had its own gym.
Sometime this year, that’s going to change, thanks to the persistence of the Gym Committee, generous contributions from the community and the support of public officials, especially City Councilman Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.).
Building a gym always has been a matter of money, Tarducci said, and board members decided about five years ago that they were going to pull out all the stops to raise it.
“Brian O’Neill has played an instrumental part with his efforts,” Tarducci said. The councilman arranged for 90 percent of the gym’s $1.35 million costs through the city.
That left it up to the Bengals to come up with the other 10 percent, or $135,000, Tarducci said.
Gym Committee members — Bengals president Kevin Hughes; Chris McNicholas, fundraising director; vice president Fred Rabina; Glenn Reed, girls athletic director; and Tarducci — pushed to raise the money.
Recently, funds from an anonymous donor took the efforts over the top. A local company found out the Bengals needed another $17,500 and chipped it in, O’Neill said, but the company wanted to remain unnamed.
Another contributor has been Walmart, said O’Neill. The retailer donated $15,000 at first and then smaller amounts.
The Fraternal Order of Police has been another big player for the Bengals, Tarducci said. The FOP hosted a big fundraiser in March 2014. The gym will be named for John Marynowitz, the partner of Officer Robert Hayes, for whom the playground is named. Marynowitz was seriously wounded and Hayes was killed during a 1993 traffic stop.
“Many, many people have been responsible for our progress, which includes our current Bustleton Bengals board as well as those who served on it in the past,” Tarducci said. “We have had many other organization members get us started on this project, which would be too numerous to name.”
City Councilman Ed Neilson, Lt. Gov. Mike Stack, U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle and state Rep. Kevin Boyle also have been big supporters, Tarducci said. ••
