Wantagh to have first Field of Honor

In honor of Memorial Day, several Wantagh organizations are getting together to create a Field of Honor on the grounds of the local history museum on Wantagh Avenue.

A field of American flags will be displayed outside the old train station and Jamaica parlor car from Memorial Day through Flag Day. The project is a fundraiser for the Wantagh 6-12 Association, which is working along with the Wantagh Kiwanis Club, high school Key Club and Preservation Society.

The idea was conceived by 6-12 Association members Julie Argueta and Vivian Fitzgerald. “It’s just something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Argueta said.

She added that Seaford and Massapequa each have fields of honor for Veterans Day, and felt it was needed in Wantagh to show respect for local veterans. “It really shows patriotism and our pride in our country,” she said. “It will definitely beautify the town.”

Fitzgerald grew up in Plainedge, where a Field of Honor is done at a local elementary school. As a first-generation American, she says the flag has special meaning to her. When her children were younger, she would take them to cemeteries to put flags on the gravesites of veterans.

She added that now is a good time for people to pause and remember those who are making sacrifices for the greater good, including servicemen and women, police officers, firefighters, doctors and nurses. “I think what’s going on in society,” she said, “people have to realize what this country is based on.”

Argueta said several locations were considered, including Wantagh High School and the train station, before settling on the grounds of the Preservation Society’s museum. Its location on Wantagh Avenue, the central road in town, will make the Field of Honor most visible, she explained. Another reason for that location is that flags flown at night must be lit up, and there is sufficient lighting on the museum grounds.

Residents will be able to purchase a flag for a $20 donation, along with a ribbon. Each sponsor will get to keep their flag and ribbon after the Field of Honor is taken down, and the poles will be kept for next year, as Argueta said the plan is for it to become an annual event.

So far, 50 flags have been purchased. “If need be, we’ll buy more,” Argueta said. “I’m expecting a huge response.”

Each flag will be three feet by five feet. Members of the Key Club and scouts, and other volunteers, will set up the flags the Saturday and Sunday before Memorial Day, so it will be in place as the parade goes by.

“I’m very excited about it,” Fitzgerald said. “I think anything that’s done as a community is great. I’m glad that people can come together.”

Anyone interested in a flag can contact Argueta at (516) 446-0320 or alexus1216@aol.com, or Fitzgerald at (516) 314-1408 or vrfitz@optonline.net.