Community members at the annual East Williston Veterans Day ceremony. (Photos courtesy of Bonnie Parente)
East Williston Mayor Bonnie Parente led the annual Veterans Day ceremony Monday, which started with an invocation by Deacon Jerry Magaldi.
The ceremony was followed by the presentation of colors by VFW no. 1688 Commander Frank Busa, words by American Legion Post no. 144 Commander Eric Spinner and Town Councilman Dennis Walsh. Willow Grosskopf sang the National Anthem, followed by a musical interlude by The Wheatley School String Quartet — Charlize Kuo, Olivia Cao, Hayden Wang and Connie Lin — and in keeping with the village’s tradition, veteran Norm Jardine sang “God Bless America.”
Also in attendance was the East Williston Fire Department, Scouting America Troop no. 8 and Troop no. 200, several Brownie Girl Scouts, President of the EWSD Mark Kamburg, Nassau County Fire Marshall Mike Uttaro, Trustee Raffaela Dunne, Trustee James Iannone and many veterans.
Resident Kathy Monachelli provided U.S. flags, colored by her religious education students for all of the veterans to take home as tokens of appreciation.
“We were honored to hear the inspiring words from our keynote speaker Master Sgt. Joseph Potucek, who was joined by his beautiful wife Suzanne and their three children, Alice, Patrick and Charles,” Parente said in a release. “Master Sgt. Potucek spoke about how he came to where he is today. In sum, he tried. He spoke compellingly about how getting through his successes and challenges he could not fail, because you can’t fail as long as you’re trying. I am so grateful that Master Sgt. Potucek shared his story.”
Parente reminded the community that on Veterans Day, those who have served the country in war or peace, whether living or not, are honored. She mentioned she had the opportunity to attend an Islander game this week with the East Williston Fire Department on Military Appreciation Night. Every seat in the stadium had a sign taped to it with a message.
Parente’s sign said: “I salute those protecting our freedom.” Her son’s sign said: “I salute those currently overseas” and her daughter’s sign said: “I salute those we’ve lost protecting our freedom.”
“Someone at UBS Arena or with the NY Islander’s organization thought it important enough to print enough for every seat,” Parente said. “And then imagine how many people it took to tape one at a time to the back of every seat. The arena officially seats 17,255 patrons for NHL games and that night was a sell-out. So they printed over 17,00 signs and individually taped them to every single seat, for the sole purpose of honoring veterans.”
Parente said it is somewhat relieving to know there are people and organizations that recognize the importance of recognizing veterans.
She said she just finished reading “The Women” by Kristin Hannah. The novel is historical fiction about a young nurse who serves in the U.S. Army as a nurse during the Vietnam War. She said the book reminded readers that at the end of the war, the country, in protesting the method and manner of the war, took it out on those who served us. She said the country was not very welcoming to the veterans when they came home.
“Let’s make it up to those we did not welcome home with open arms,” Parente said. “Let’s remember to honor those who served, and let’s pray for those we lost. And let’s be grateful for those still willing to serve our great country.”