LaKota Oaks Plants Tree in Honor of Former Mayor Frank Zullo

LaKota Oaks hosted its inaugural ribbon-cutting and tree planting ceremony in honor of former Mayor, Frank Zullo last week. More than 50 people attended from Norwalk and the surrounding communities to celebrate the new ownership and management of LaKota Oaks, Southern Connecticut’s Event and Conference Center, as well as the long and successful life of Mayor Zullo, who passed away earlier this year.

The attendees gathered along the sweeping front lawn of the property to hear warm dedications made by LaKota Hotels & Resorts Director, Andy Dolce, Norwalk Mayor, Harry Rilling, LaKota Oaks owner, Hafeez Choudhary and Frank Zullo’s wife, Bernice Zullo. The community of people gathered around the tree to celebrate the life of Frank Zullo and the mission of LaKota Oaks to cultivate and nurture the strong roots and existing relationships of the Norwalk community. “This oak tree was planted to signify the strong influence Frank Zullo had on everyone he touched,” said Andy Dolce in his comments. “Frank Zullo was the best Mayor Norwalk ever had!” said Mayor Harry Rilling in his comments.

Sam Haigh, LaKota Hotels & Resorts President, presented a toast recognizing the residents and businesses in Norwalk and greater Fairfield County for their continued support in bringing their conferences, corporate retreats, weddings, parties and social events to the facility.

Attendees included Norwalk Mayor, Harry Rilling, Norwalk Chamber President, Brian Griffin, Norwalk Community College President, David Levinson, new owner of LaKota Oaks, Hafeez Choudhary, of Queens Plaza LLC, Silvermine Arts Center Gallery Director, Roger Mudre, several members of the West Norwalk Association, as well as the entire LaKota Oaks operations and management team.

LaKota Oaks, a state-of-the-art conference and resort facility was founded in 2018 by industry veterans, Sam D. Haigh, Sam L. Haigh, Andy Dolce and Daniel Dolce. LaKota Oaks offers 120 guest rooms situated on 66-acres of rolling green hills, ponds and scenic countryside areas to enhance a 10,500-sf state of the art event and meeting space facility offering executive accommodations, state-of-the-art business amenities, a 75-foot indoor lap pool and fitness center, walking, jogging and bike trails, indoor basketball court and racquetball courts, tennis, volleyball, bocce and horse shoe. The conference center features 20 unique hi-touch and hi-tech collaborative spaces for training, strategic planning and team building and a food service system specifically designed to catering for groups. It is an IACC certified venue and was voted “Best Weddings” by The Knot. LaKota is easily accessible from the Metro New York area. www.lakotaoaks.com

LaKota Hotels & Resorts is a specialized hospitality management company, utilizing dynamic leadership techniques and a “whatever-it-takes” approach to service in order to transform its properties into thriving hospitality operations. Created by the leaders of two long-time competitors, the LaKota founders built an exceptionally strong team that specializes in turning around under-performing hotels, resorts and conference centers to achieve extraordinary financial results. The National Conference Center in Leesburg, VA, is LaKota’s most recent turnaround, where LaKota stepped into the operation of this 914-room property that the lender had taken back, immediately put the business on a positive footing, dramatically increased revenue and cash flow, and tripled the value of the asset in less than four years. For additional information, please visit: www.lakotahr.com/