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Just-retired Canton recreation director John Taillon honored for 30 years of service

Posted 7/23/17

CANTON -- Retired Canton recreation director John Taillon was recently honored by Mayor Michael Dalton and the village board of trustees for his service to the community. Taillon was presented with …

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Just-retired Canton recreation director John Taillon honored for 30 years of service

Posted

CANTON -- Retired Canton recreation director John Taillon was recently honored by Mayor Michael Dalton and the village board of trustees for his service to the community.

Taillon was presented with an engraved glass baseball commemorating his 30-year career manning the helm of the Canton Parks and Recreation department.

Mayor Dalton said, at the village board meeting July 17, that Taillon was the longest serving recreation director in the history of the town and village of Canton and also in the county.

“He successfully implemented year-round programs for the community we serve,” the mayor said. Dalton also highlighted the expansion of services offered by the parks department under Taillon’s management. “He has made Canton a better place.”

During Taillon’s career he has overseen the installation of artificial ice as the Canton Pavilion, as well as the acquisition of an electric Zamboni, bleachers and other improvements to the site.

He began the kayak rental program, started the sand sculpture competition, and implemented rehabilitation and improvement projects in Canton’s numerous parks and community sports fields and facilities. The former director also helped jumpstart the Canton PeeWee football, Adventures in Learning, Houli School of Basketball, co-ed basketball and adult volleyball programs.

Taillon has been traditionally active with the Knights of Columbus as well, assisting and leading many of their recreation programs.

In April, Taillon received the New York State Recreation and Parks Service’s Lifetime Achievement award. The award is given to a state resident who has made outstanding and lasting contributions to the advancement of recreation and parks on the local and state levels over a minimum of 20 years.

Taillon officially retired this past spring, and Caitlin Boreyko was appointed by the village board to the recreation director position on May 1.

Trustee Beth Bullock Larrabee told the board that she was one of Taillon’s lifeguards when she was a teenager and he recently hired her daughter for the same job.

“You hired me for one of my first jobs and it was an amazing experience,” Larrabee said. “You really have done a lot for this community and we really appreciate it.”

“The Canton community is one of a kind, and everything our department has accomplished has been a result of the commitment of a wide variety of committed organizations and individuals,” Taillon wrote in a letter the town and village boards.

“It is a bittersweet moment for me as I hand the Canton Recreation Department over to a new director and begin a new chapter in my life. I hope to be eagerly watching from close by to see what the next 30 years will bring for the department and for this community that I love.”