Terri Keogh, the eldest of
New York State Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro’s four children,
took a leave of absence from her job as a Brooklyn Assistant District
Attorney to run her mom’s 1994 senatorial campaign. Today, she’s
happy running the Castro family’s large real estate business with
properties in New York, Connecticut, Virginia and Florida, including
an 18-hole golf course, while enjoying life on Long Island with her
husband Peter and two daughters, Grace and Georgia.
With a strikingly similar
voice, Terri says, “Mom has a lot more energy than I.” But
if there’s one thing she’s learned from mom, it’s
“you can always reinvent yourself, or get a new career.”
And Bernadette Castro has
had a string of them.
A television personality
When folks approach her with the hint of a smile on their lips, Commissioner
Castro instinctively knows they remember her as the little girl opening
the Castro Convertible in the television commercials of the late 1940s
and 50s. It was quite by accident, she adds, that her parents discovered
their four-year-old daughter had opened the sofa to relax and watch
television. “When dad realized that it’s so easy to open,
a child can do it, he knew television was the answer.” A firm
believer in the new communication medium, he contacted the only two
New York television stations, but they had never produced a local commercial
spot, so he hired an ad agency and considered hiring a child actress.
In a recent interview with
Networking Magazine, Castro revealed that her mother convinced her dad
that Bernadette could do the job. She was willing, but first, the precocious
tyke with sausage curls insisted she be allowed to wear nail polish.
A stir ensued when columnist and regular contestant on “What’s
My Line” Dorothy Kilgalin charged Mr. Castro with using a midget
in his commercial. Later, as a sensitive seventh grader, Castro recalls
feeling “humiliated” by a Mad Magazine “spoof”
about the commercial, but the incident didn’t shake her already
outgoing, energetic, calculating and savvy personality.
When Castro Convertibles
was thriving, the family moved from a two-family home in the Bronx where
Bernadette’s TV stardom spawned to a more rural Westchester location,
and during the 1960s, Mr. Castro purchased land in an undeveloped area
of Florida, called Ocala, where the rolling hills reminded him of his
native Italy.
“I call Florida my
second home state,” says Castro, adding that the family was among
the earliest “snowbirds.” Mr. Castro had manufacturing plants
there, and he also founded the first privately owned golf and country
club in Marion County – ranked the fifth best place to live by
Money Magazine in 1996 and currently Florida’s fifth largest county.
Student and businesswoman
Castro attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, earning her
undergraduate degree in broadcast journalism. She had always been involved
in her father’s business in the advertising end, and moved to
the administration side in 1978.
“Dad was the creator
of the business, a great entrepreneur and a great American. I learned
a lot from him,” says Castro. “Even though I became the
president, he was always calling the shots.”
Castro remembers getting
her first lessons in the appreciation of nature and the environment,
conservation and preservation from her father. “Dad was a silent
conservationist. He would build structures around trees. He appreciated
the landscape and planted fruit trees. He did his own landscape architecture
in a humble way,” she says. “All of this impressed me, and
I grew up understanding the importance of conservation and historic
preservation.”
“Mom taught me the
philosophy of public service,” Castro continues, “doing
what she could to help so many groups and individuals, and never expecting
anything in return.”
Schoolmistress
A young mother and businesswoman, Castro reinvented herself at age 30
by returning to the University of Florida for a graduate degree in School
Administration. Sitting in class with new undergrads wasn’t easy
for this high achiever, but she applied herself and earned a 4.0 GPA.
The Castros had founded Marion County’s first nonsectarian private
school, Golden Hills Academy, and when administrative difficulties arose,
Bernadette managed the school for a few years.
Castro never considered selling
the family business while its founder was alive, but after her dad passed
away, she sold Castro Convertibles to Krause Furniture in 1993. The
purchase included the company name, trademark, patents and inventory,
but the family retained ownership of its properties.
Political Candidate
“If I’m going to switch careers at this stage of my life,”
Castro thought, “I can’t start on the school board,”
so she tossed her hat in the ring for U.S. Senator, opposing incumbent
Daniel Patrick Moynihan. She captured 42% of the vote but lost the election.
However, she made a connection with rising star George E. Pataki, soon
to be inaugurated as New York State Governor.
When the governor asked her
to join his team, Castro remarks, “I targeted State Parks.”
The duo was a match: she with her passion for conservation and preservation;
he, a hiker, canoeist and exceptional birder. The Commissioner says
nature is the Governor’s relaxation, and together they “talk
parks.” An excellent cartographer, he enjoys reviewing parkland
maps.
Public Servant
Ever the supportive staff member, Castro has sought to assist the State’s
“CEO” in “accomplishing certain benchmarks and goals.”
Despite the state’s
mounting budget problems, Castro notes that under the Governor’s
leadership, 18 new state parks have been established, increasing the
size of the system by over 20%. The system’s largest revenue generators,
she adds, are camping, parking and golf. Each dollar the Legislature
puts in the parks budget, the agency is able to match with revenues.
Castro confirms, “All the money generated by parks goes back to
the park system, providing a great incentive to use our parks. That
doesn’t happen in other states.”
A shrewd businesswoman, Castro
realizes that if you collect money at the gate, parkland and historic
site visitors want to know how it’s being used. Therefore, she
oversees the careful reinvestment of those funds in the system, a residual
trait from her retail days. This hands-on Commissioner spent the entire
day at Jones Beach last Fourth of July. “No Commissioner had ever
gone from concession stand to concession stand,” Castro says,
but she wanted to know “How long the lines were? How long mothers
had to wait? Were there ketchup packets on the floor?” In preparation
for the 75th anniversary of Jones Beach, the Parks Office began an effort
to spruce up the site.
“You don’t have
to be fancy,” says the Commissioner, “just clean and neat.”
Visitors will see the improvements during this summer’s celebrations,
which will include a birthday cake for a 1,000 people on the actual
date, August 4, and a “return to yesteryear” with Family
Circus Days.
Commissioner Castro has also
provided key leadership in innovative programming, such as public-private
partnerships that preserve and enhance the park system, while generating
funds for capital projects. “People were afraid to reach out to
the private sector,” says the Commissioner, because of “the
c-word, commercialization.” But with her background and through
legislative testimony and careful preparation of guidelines, Castro
gained the trust of Albany representatives.
“It’s all about
finding the balance, where we can reward the private sector in a soft
way,” comments the Commissioner. She estimates the state parks
system has received tens of millions of dollars through private sponsorship,
enabling the agency to upgrade and modernize park, water and wildlife
facilities without engaging in “corporate naming.” The Tommy
Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theater got its new name because of a contract
that brings in over $300,000 per year to Jones Beach State Park.
Other upgrades reflect donations,
including the Doris Duke Wildlife Preserve and the Frank Lautenberg
Visitor Center at Sterling Forest, named for the New Jersey Senator
who has personally donated over a million dollars to the Center. “We’ve
accepted whole parks from people,” notes Castro.
The Commissioner’s
greatest sense of pride seems to come from securing the 2002 U.S. Open
Golf Championship at the Bethpage State Park Black Course, the first
Open ever hosted at a publicly owned course.
Upon coming to the agency,
Castro’s private-sector eyes recognized that the loose group of
state sites was not marketed as a park system. Sharing the Governor’s
value for passive and active recreation, protection of open space and
respect for preservation of historic sites, the Commissioner worked
over the years to change that procedure. In October 2003, New York received
the National Gold Medal State Park Award as the best state park system
in the country for its excellence in park and recreation administration
and outstanding service to patrons.
In some respects, Castro’s
service to the Parks department has been a labor of love, but she says,
“The great thing about my role in government is that the accomplishments
we’ve made are irreversible. When you buy parkland, it’s
parkland forever; when you preserve historic structures or battlefields
through archeological study, those are permanent endeavors.”
In 2001, Castro was appointed
by President George Bush as vice-chair of the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation, promoting preservation, enhancement and productive use
of national historic resources. “This is a significant and very
quiet council,” she says, “working with major federal agencies,
like the Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture, Office of
General Services, Department of Transportation, because they all have
historic properties.” The non-paying position has allowed Castro
to work closely with Bush initiative Preserve America in advocating
for preservation in New York State.
Public-private partnerships
Commissioner Castro lends her support to the Foundation for Long Island
Parks’ annual black-tie Master Builder Award gala. This year’s
honoree, Bette Midler, has been a long-time public-private partner with
the State Parks Office. Midler, a Hawaii native, says she’s “a
little nutty and compulsive about preserving natural space since I had
this extraordinary experience of being in nature and thinking of nature
as God.” Returning to New York City in 1994 after a stint in Los
Angeles, Midler found the city in a shambles – mounds of garbage,
mattresses in trees, and people sitting on piles of garbage waiting
for a bus. Not above picking up garbage with her bare hands, Midler
established the New York Restoration Project. Castro notes that through
state grants, Midler has helped with revitalization projects and “the
restoration of 49 community gardens in Harlem – the only backyards
some city dwellers will ever have.”
“Bette got involved
for all the right reasons,” adds Castro. “She cares about
underserved communities and wants lower income families to have the
opportunity to enjoy parkland and have wonderful facilities.”
For the first time, the gala included a live auction.
Skillful auctioneer
Intrigued by a woman Sotheby auctioneer, Castro developed a unique auctioneering
style of her own, one her daughter Terri characterizes as “hilarious.”
“She calls like a cattle
auctioneer with the whole lingo,” says Terri, and she may address
someone by saying, “Welcome to the party, sir.” Together,
they offer their services every year at Portledge School in Locust Valley,
where Terri is an alumna and her daughters are enrolled. “Mom
is funny, too. As she’s gotten to know people over the years,
she’ll call on them by name.” Sometimes in the middle of
a call, she’ll toss Terri the mic. At the Master Builder Award
gala, the Commissioner gladly took the microphone to call the auction
of “Bette’s Best,” a collection from Midler’s
work in music and motion pictures.
Great adventures/new careers
Two years ago, Castro discovered that the country club her family owned
in Ocala was up for sale. Unbeknownst to Terri, manager of the family
real estate business, Castro put together a small investment group and
bought the club – partly for sentimental reasons and partly to
revive the club and restructure the golf course, while preserving property
values in the community where the family homestead remains.
Terri doesn’t regret
the purchase, saying, “Mom loves land.” But, “it’s
an all consuming business,” remarks Terri. “There’s
retail in the pro shop, catering in the restaurant, and running the
golf business. I now know how to grow grass on any surface, how to fertilize,
and how to order food for 200. There are always new things to learn.”
After public service, Castro
would like to return to the private sector. Would she accept another
government appointment? Following the governor’s philosophy, she
says, “I won’t rule anything in or rule anything out.”
In tribute to Terri, Castro
comments, “For ten years, Terri has allowed me to run the state
parks system, while she runs the family business, and at the same time
she deals with rheumatoid arthritis, is a wife and mother, serves on
the boards of Portledge School and the Glen Cove Boys and Girls Club.
It’s role reversal. Terri’s inspirational to me. She’s
the wind beneath my wings.”
Family first
A Lloyd Harbor resident living at the Castro family estate, “Panfield,”
the Commissioner is married to Dr. Peter Guida, a surgeon at New York
Presbyterian Hospital. In addition to Terri, she has three sons –
all avid water sports fans – David, a litigation lawyer; Jonathan,
a struggling film producer; and Bernard, an architect. She has six grandchildren,
and one on the way, and Dr. Guida has two children and two grandchildren
from a previous marriage.
Castro refers to her husband
as “St. Peter.” For the past 25 years, she says, he has
“gently pushed me; I trust his judgment. We enjoy a good friendship.
He has greatly influenced and enriched my life.”
