By: Laura Lane
Barry Fox, president of the Merrick Park Home Owners Association, has had a dream for the last year and a half.
Inspired by the heroism and saddened by the loss of 17 Merokeans on Sept. 11, 2001, he has worked with fellow civic-association members to honor those who lost their lives. His idea, to replace the chain-link fence that separates Hewlett Avenue from a wildlife sanctuary with a black, wrought-iron fence and a plaque listing the 17 names of all Merrick and North Merrick residents who died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, is closer to becoming a reality.
The Merrick Park group has received a $5,000 grant from Nassau County David Denenberg (D-Merrick) to complete the project and hopes to receive the $10,000 grant promised by New York State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick) in the next few weeks. This would allow work to begin on the Sept. 11 fence and memorial, which Fox refers to as the "Garden of Tolerance."
"This will be a public place where everyone can meditate and contemplate the meaning of 9-11 and all the tragedies that have befallen residents of Merrick, regardless of race or ethnicity," Fox said. "Because of its location near the train station, hundreds of thousands of people will see it over the course of a year."
Fox said that although the idea for the site began as a response to Sept. 11, it grew after he visited the Holocaust Memorial in New Orleans. It was there that he decided to broaden the theme of the memorial.
"I guess we always intended to make this more general, but at the same time, we wanted to include everyone from the Merricks who died on Sept. 11 that had not been included before," Fox said. "After I visited New Orleans, I brought it up to the board to broaden the theme, and they agreed."
The civic association has asked local teenagers to render their ideas of how the memorial should appear. Fox recently spoke to the principals of the high schools in Merrick and asked that art teachers have their students draw up plans. Merrick Park Home Owners Association is offering $25 for the best drawing from each school and $100 for the student whose design is ultimately selected. He said that art teachers will visit the site soon to look at the area and may bring along their classes.
"This was always our intention to get kids involved, make it a school project," Fox said. "I knew it would lend itself to a social studies lesson and wanted to have the community have a say in its plan."
Thus far, many community members have taken an interest in the site. In October, more than 60 people took part in a cleanup of the wildlife preserve, which is located behind the planned wrought-iron fence. They included members of Temple Beth Am and Webelos Cub Scout Pack 206. It was the second time that Fox and other community activists had gathered residents for a cleanup at the site.
"Gail Volk and Temple Beth Am, of which she is a member, do several projects on the environment and other important issues, and approached me about two months ago to ask for a date when the cleanup of this property could continue," said Fox.
"Karen Harding, whose son Andrew participated in the first preserve cleanup in May, then approached the Cub Scouts to join in the cleanup."
The wildlife sanctuary is located on town land, and runs for roughly a quarter-mile east to Smith Pond. Fox believes the memorial fence will be up by this spring.
