The Cunningham Lane Festival Field, located off of Springfield Road across from the Community Center, will be named the Preston Memorial Field for former town Supervisor Randy Preston. Preston died last year following a years-long fight against an aggressive brain tumor, glioblastoma. He was 60 years old.

“He was instrumental in getting a grant to purchase that property,” current town Supervisor Roy Holzer said. “As we were being approached to do something in his memory, we were trying to pick out something that was totally unique.

“Wilmington has been very fortunate to have a lot of strong leaders in the past, from highway superintendents to town clerks to supervisors,” he added. “The difference in Randy’s situation is that he passed away while in office, and he always had a lot of fight in him. He fought for us, and he fought through treatment. That deserves a lasting recognition.”

Preston served as the town supervisor for more than a decade, including serving as chairman of the Essex County Board of Supervisors. He joined the Wilmington fire squad in 1977 at the age of 18 and served as a volunteer firefighter for more than 40 years. His impact on the town of Wilmington reached nearly every corner of the community. He’s credited with helping put Wilmington on the map for mountain biking, successfully lobbying for the repair of the Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway, and revitalizing the town’s recreational sites, among other things.

Randy Preston is seen in June 2015. (Enterprise photo — Matthew Turner)

Preston was honored by the state of New York with a plaque on the roundhouse atop Whiteface Mountain this past November. State Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury, and Assemblymen Dan Stec and Billy Jones, R-Queensbury and D-Plattsburgh respectively, announced on Nov. 1, 2019, they would introduce the “Randy Preston Salt Reduction Act” in his honor in the current legislative session.

The town board plans to host a dedication ceremony for the activity field at a date to be determined. Holzer said the town is planning to move forward with a number of improvements to the field and surrounding town land, including the installation of new bathrooms there, electrical service to accommodate vendors and events, and the completion of stonework on the pavilion. Those upgrades are expected to be done this summer.