A Rich Legacy On Tap: Abby D’Amato ’22 and Dawson Lagoe ’22

Utica Community
Utica Stories
A Rich Legacy On Tap: Abby D’Amato ’22 and Dawson Lagoe ’22

Hand holds a drink in front of the North East Tap Company Beer Truck.

Two recent CM grads pay homage to the memory of JP Ramel ’22 at the wheel of a beer truck fashioned from a vintage fire engine

The business plan would come later, Abby D’Amato ’22 and Dawson Lagoe ’22 thought. What they knew was the retired 1969 Ford F600 fire engine was the perfect centerpiece of their new commercial venture.

Because even if North East Tap Co. never turns a profit, it still will have achieved its founding purpose, carrying on the memory of their late friend and what he believed in.

JP Ramel ’22 was Lagoe’s roommate and, as D’Amato describes, the glue that brought their tight-knit community of Construction Management majors together, whether he was organizing service projects as president of the Student Contractors Association or hosting informal gatherings at his house. To the shock and sorrow of all who knew him, Ramel suffered a fatal stroke on April 10, 2022, just weeks before his graduation.

The idea for North East Tap Co. was sparked the moment D’Amato saw the vintage fire truck in a Facebook garage sale post her mother shared with her.

“Since JP’s passing, we had been talking about how to create and fund a scholarship in his name and how to get people who didn’t know JP to understand who he was,” D’Amato says.

An old Fire Truck before the North East Tap Company Conversion. — The fire truck before its conversion.

Ramel had an incredible passion for giving back. He volunteered for Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a Utica-area not-for-profit that builds and delivers beds for children in need, and spearheaded several fundraising and service initiatives on campus, including the dedication of the veterans’ flag pole. He put in hundreds of hours as a volunteer firefighter, both with his hometown Plumsteadville (PA) Volunteer Fire Company and, while at college, the New York Mills Fire Department.

D'Amato and Lagoe stared at the computer screen, and as the Facebook image of the red, well-weathered, 53-year-old fire engine stared back at them, the vision grew – and grew more perfect.

“It immediately made us think of JP and his devotion to firefighting,” D’Amato says. “We were sitting there thinking, ‘How could we use this to raise money for the scholarship and causes that were important to him?’ JP’s favorite way to spend time – when he wasn’t firefighting or volunteering his time in some other way – was just hanging out with his friends and drinking Miller Lite. So we’re like, ‘Let’s do a beer truck.’”

For us, it’s not about bettering ourselves. It’s about bettering other people’s lives.

After investing $40,000 and a year of sweat equity restoring the vehicle, D’Amato and Lagoe, who also work together at Lagoe Construction, debuted the eight-tap converted fire engine in November 2023 at fundraisers for Blossom Road Fire Company in D’Amato’s hometown of Elma, NY, and at East Aurora Fire Department.

And so was born western New York’s newest mobile bartending experience – a fire engine tap truck.

Fire Truck After Converstion to North East Tap Company Beer Truck — Fire Truck after converstion to the North East Tap Company Beer Truck.

Just like the person who inspired the venture, North East Tap Co. is built around the principle of giving back. Proceeds from events they attend benefit causes supporting emergency responders and military servicemembers as well as the efforts to create the John “JP” Ramel Memorial Scholarship, which, once endowed, will support future Construction Management students.

While their fire engine tap truck primarily serves Buffalo and surrounding communities, later this month, D’Amato and Lagoe will return to their alma mater for Homecoming, pulling into campus in unmistakable style.

“We thought (bringing the truck) to campus would be a great way to get JP’s family and friends back up to Utica, bring all of our friends together, and fundraise as much as we can for JP’s scholarship,” D’Amato says.

The North East Tap Co. truck will set up shop that Friday evening, October 25, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. behind Strebel Student Center. Then on Saturday, they’ll be serving patrons right up the walk from the annual Construction Management Tailgate event starting around 10:30 a.m. All proceeds support the JP Ramel Scholarship Fund.

With the amount of time and effort D’Amato and Lagoe put into making it a reality, North East Tap Co. represents an enormous level of commitment for two recent graduates in the early years of their professional lives. As much as their time at Utica prepared them for successful careers in construction management, the journey they started here and the friendships they made along the way engendered in them a sense of mission and a passion for making a difference – values inspired by Ramel’s example.

Northeast Tap Truck — Dawson Lagoe ’22 and Abby D’Amato ’22

The tap truck is their unique way of extending his rich legacy.

“JP was always the first person to volunteer his time, even though he probably had the least time to give because he was already involved in so much,” says D’Amato.

“Typically, when someone starts a business the idea is to make money. For us, it’s not about bettering ourselves. It’s about bettering other people’s lives.”

If you are interested in contributing to the JP Ramel Memorial Scholarship, contact the Office of Advancement at (315) 792-3053 or advancement@utica.edu.