By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
City Human Resources Commissioner Beth A. Sabo, who called it a career Feb. 15 after 46 years of service with the city, was lauded by members of the West Haven Veterans Council a week earlier for her work with the veterans organization.
On Feb. 8, in her office on the second floor of City Hall, a tearful Sabo received a plaque for her “support throughout the years” of programs and projects shepherded by the Veterans Council, which oversees the city’s veterans groups, including West Haven Vietnam Veterans Inc.
“We truly appreciate your dedication and hard work, and we all wish you the very best in your retirement,” said council President and Treasurer Dave Ricci, reading the plaque before presenting it to Sabo.
Ricci was joined by Al Beck Sr., the council’s vice president, and members Steve Carney, Howie Chernikoff, Mark Levine, Kevin Sullivan and Howie Thomas — all of whom are members of West Haven Vietnam Veterans.
Sabo was humbled and moved by the honor.
“Thank you very much — you can’t imagine how much this means to me,” she said.
“You deserve it, Beth!” Ricci replied on behalf of the group of veterans. “You’ve been a big help to us throughout the years, and we appreciate it.”
According to Ricci, Sabo was instrumental in bringing a legion of veterans initiatives to fruition, including the sprawling Veterans Walk of Honor in Bradley Point Park and the West Haven Veterans Museum & Learning Center at 30 Hood Terrace.
The 100-yard Walk of Honor on Long Island Sound is bedecked with thousands of bricks inscribed to veterans, both living and deceased, along with an array of monuments to wars and veterans, including a flagpole and a memorial for World War II Medal of Honor recipient William A. Soderman, granite memorials to veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars, and grave markers for every war in U.S. history and peacetime.
The 9,000-square-foot Veterans Museum & Learning Center, off Sawmill Road across from the West Haven train station, shows collections from the 102nd Infantry Regiment of the Connecticut Army National Guard and the New Haven Grays, a protective force formed after the War of 1812. A living history of America at war, it also displays relics from each conflict since the U.S. fought for independence, allowing visitors to walk a timeline around the camouflage-clad warehouse.
Armed with keen institutional knowledge acquired over nearly a half-century at City Hall, Sabo was also a pivotal organizer of West Haven’s annual Walk of Honor dedication, Memorial Day parade, and Veterans Day and Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day rites.
Sabo originally retired in July 2021 but had stayed on part time as the commissioner of the Department of Human Resources, which oversees the departments of Health, Elderly Services, Parks and Recreation, and Youth and Family Services.
I had the pleasure of meeting Beth Sabo at an event at the Veteran’s Museum not too long ago. We chatted for about 10 minutes & she was such a nice person to meet. I wish her all the best for her retirement.