W.H. dedicates its 9/11 Memorial

On the day that a terrorist killed more than 80 people in Nice, France, during a Bastille Day celebration, West Hempstead held a dedication ceremony for its long-awaited 9/11 Memorial, a multi-year endeavor to honor its hometown heroes whose lives were also taken by terrorists.

Several hundred people filled the south end of Hall’s Pond Park, including members of the Lakeview, West Hempstead and New York City fire departments, representatives of the hamlet’s houses of worship, the Nassau County Auxiliary Police, several community groups, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, politicians and residents.

West Hempstead Community Support Association President Rosalie Norton, a driving force behind the memorial — and so many other projects in West Hempstead — and Kathy Dunne, the dedication ceremony chair, offered their thoughts about the memorial.

“If you know anything about how granite is formed,” Dunne said, “it begins as burning melting magma under the earth’s crust, and then, under extreme duress and pressure, as it cools, it becomes one of the most durable and beautiful substances known to us. Hopefully [visitors] will see this as a symbol of what we endured and what we did … we found our strength and learned that when we worked together, we could overcome with what initially appeared to be insurmountable.”

Norton, who said she had begun the process of making a 9/11 memorial in West Hempstead a reality in November 2011, recounted the timeline that culminated in the day’s ceremony. Among the many who assisted in her efforts included State Assemblyman Ed Ra, who helped her secure the steel through the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Nassau County Legislator Vincent Muscarella, who worked with County Executive Ed Mangano to secure a home for the memorial in Hall’s Pond Park; Legislator Laura Schaefer; and the hamlet’s two fire departments, which paid for the steel’s insurance and orchestrated the ceremony for the steel’s arrival in West Hempstead in 2012.

“On March 28, 2012, we were told we could go pick up the artifact at Kennedy airport at Hangar 17,” Norton recalled. “And on March 28 at 8:45 a.m., an escort motorcade consisting of member of the Lakeview and West Hempstead fire departments, the Auxiliary Police Unit 116, a flatbed truck provided by Touch of Class Collision and members of the Community Support Association’s executive board left West Hempstead and headed to JFK Airport … to bring the artifact into West Hempstead.

“At 10:30 a.m., we arrived at Southern State Parkway Exit 18, and as the motorcade made its way to West Hempstead it was greeted by fire trucks from volunteer firemen from the surrounding communities,” Norton continued. “Using aerial ladders from their trucks, they formed arches and suspended American flags between each arch. There were six of these arches at various locations in West Hempstead. I can’t even begin to tell you the feeling that you have, and the sadness and joy of seeing so many volunteer firemen in the surrounding community honoring the artifact as it came to West Hempstead.”

Norton also spoke of the West Hempstead students who lined the motorcade route on Nassau Boulevard, and their silence, stillness and salutes as the motorcade passed by.

The steel was initially housed in the Chestnut Street School, and then was on display in the West Hempstead Library, until last month, when Norton asked Lakeview Fire Commissioner Heather McNeill to transport it from the library to Hall’s Pond Park because the memorial was ready, and the steel needed to be attached to it.

Among others who spoke at the ceremony included the Rev. Raymond Lorthioir of Trinity Lutheran Churchy, the Rev. Noel Effiong of St. Thomas the Apostle and Rabbi Art Vernon of Congregation Shaaray Shalom.

A ceremonial wreath was placed on the memorial, and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts placed 12 lighted candles on the structure, each representing one of the 9/11 victims.