TICKETS
General: $10
Member: FREE, RSVP Required
Tom Gardella has dedicated his life to service: our current Mayor of Sag Harbor has led a full life of community commitment, from United States military intelligence to Fire Department Chief, from serving as a Critical Care EMT to Mayor of Sag Harbor Village. Join us for the first Knowledge Friday of the season as Gardella sits down one-on-one with The Church Co-Founder, Eric Fischl to discuss his unique and fascinating journey. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A with the audience. Come celebrate a community that fosters creativity and connection and get to know a leader who is continually working for the benefit of Sag Harbor’s living legacy.
A Long Island Native, Gardella and his family found their way out to Sag Harbor in the summer of 1986. Prior to coming to Sag Harbor, he served in the Alpha company 319, the 525th military intelligence group as an Imagery Analyst for the United States Military during the Cold War—analyzing photos, radar, infrared, and more. When he arrived in Sag Harbor, he switched gears a bit as he began work for GF Schiavoni, a local plumbing company. For nearly forty years Gardella has grown alongside this seaside community, putting out fires (real and metaphoric) and serving the community in both care and leadership.
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Graduating in 1983 from the William Floyd School District, Long Island native, Gardella immediately enrolled in basic training with the Military and shipped off to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. After successfully completing basic training, and scoring high marks in testing, he went on to Fort Huachuca, Arizona for Advanced Individual Training. Here he began his specialized training in military intelligence. He Graduated 1st in his class. After graduating, Gardella served in the United States military as an Image Analyst with the military intelligence. Combing through photos, radar, infrared, and more with acute skills of observation – Gardella analyzed intel to uncover Soviet movements and intentions ahead of militarized mobilization. He went on to Fort Benning Georgia for airborne school and parachute training and was later sent to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Discharged in the summer of 1986, Gardella came out to Sag Harbor and rented a house, coincidentally, next to his parents’ home in Noyac. He worked alongside Gabe and Fran Schiavoni in their local plumbing business and later moved into a house in North Haven before buying a house in the village in 1994. He served the village by training as a firefighter and joined the fire department in 1996. He would later become Fire Chief in 2015 and was involved with putting out the Main Street fire in 2016. Additionally, Gardella trained as an EMT and continued with advanced training to become a critical care EMT. Service continued and he served as the village’s trustee for one year, deputy mayor for four years, before becoming the mayor of Sag Harbor Village. He is currently serving his third year as Mayor of Sag Harbor.