Town of Hempstead unveils new East Meadow signs

When Alexandra Cadiff came home from school recently, there was a note for her on the refrigerator. It simply said, “a small community with big ideas.”

The note was from her mother, Joanna. It was a reminder of the slogan she submitted to the Herald while she was a fourth-grader at Bowling Green Elementary School. 

Alexandra, now a sixth-grader at W.T. Clarke Middle School, is the winner of the East Meadow Slogan Contest, co-sponsored by the Town of Hempstead, the East Meadow School District and the East Meadow Herald.  The signs were generously donated by Nassimi Properties, which owns the East Meadow Commons shopping center, and Engel Burman, which own the Seasons at East Meadow. 

One sign stands by the Commons, which is located at 2565 Hempstead Turnpike, just west of the Wantagh Parkway. The other sign is stationed across the street from The Seasons at East Meadow, which is located at 1475 Front Street, west of Merrick Avenue.

Both signs don Alexandra’s slogan, “a small community with big ideas.” 

The idea for the contest was spearheaded by Hempstead Town Councilman Gary Hudes. Hudes, who represents East Meadow, was unhappy about the appearance of the old, aging signs. He felt that those signs did not appropriately represent East Meadow as drivers made their way into the community. Hudes pitched the idea of creating new signs, but in a way that would involve community input. The end result was the East Meadow slogan contest, which gave elementary school students an opportunity to create a  saying that would appear on the new sign.

He sought partners for the project. That is where the school district, the Herald, Nassimi and Engel Burman stepped in.  

The district held the contest at the end of the 2008-09 school year. In October 2009, members of the Herald editorial staff selected final slogans for readers to vote on. After hundreds of votes were tabulated from Herald readers, Alexandra’s was the winner. 

The town worked with Nassimi and Engel Burman to create the new, colorful signs that now welcome people into East Meadow.

“We love to do anything that helps the community,” said Joshua Kashanian of Nassimi Realty, Inc. 

Kashanian joined Murray and Hudes to congratulate Alexandra at an unveiling ceremony last month in front of the sign at East Meadow Commons. 

“This contest generated hundreds of slogans from our East Meadow students,” Hudes said. “I am so impressed with the creative and clever slogans that the students came up with. This is truly a small community with big ideas. East Meadow residents are always working towards creating a better life for their families in a big way. These signs are a beautiful addition to a beautiful, caring and absolutely wonderful
community.”

Whenever she passes the Town of Hempstead’s new Welcome to East Meadow signs, Alexandra can take all the credit she wants. 

“I’m so glad the school children of East Meadow had a chance to share their creativity,” Town Supervisor Kate Murray said “The advertising professionals from Madison Avenue have nothing on Alexandra.”

Alexandra hopes to be a fashion designer some day. Her mother, Joanna, said she believes this contest victory is a sign of great things for her daughter. “This is just the beginning,” she said. 

Murray lauded all of the parties involved in making this contest happen.  

“In Hempstead Town, we know what a great community East Meadow is and we are proud to have been able to facilitate this slogan contest and work with the developers to have ‘Welcome to East Meadow’ signs constructed,” Murray said. “We are so grateful to the Herald Newspaper chain, specifically the East Meadow Herald and the East Meadow School District for working with us to have the elementary school students create the community’s new slogan. 

“We are so proud of all the students who worked so hard and wrote so many wonderful slogans,” she added. “Of course we would also like to thank all those who took the time to vote for their favorite slogan.”