By Nicole Falco
Locals stood shoulder to shoulder under a tent set up outside the Rockaway Avenue bar. Inside, if you even thought about moving you had to wait to be carried along by the flow of the crowd. If you managed to squeeze passed the crowd to get to the bar then the Daily News' Mighty Quinn may have popped the top off your Heineken.
The event was organized by PJ Harper's owner, Paul Pandolfi, and his friend and part-time bartender, Pierce Keane.
Keane worked about one block away from ground zero. He watched the whole horrific event unfold before his disbelieving eyes.
"He was very much involved. Pierce was very deeply affected by the whole situation. We had been going to all the memorial services together [but] he said, 'We should really do something,'" Pandolfi said.
A fund was officially set up with the help of Valley Stream-based attorneys Silverman & DilLuccio. Various others were enlisted to help make the benefit a success including Jim Lieber of Lieber Funeral Home, Valley Streamers Terry and Carole Meaney, Mickey O'Hara, Chris Vesely, Debbie Lehay and many, many others.
Others donated prizes, which were given out to the winners of a raffle held that night. Prizes included a mountain bike, a trip to Florida donated by Mario Oliveri, sports tickets and memorabilia and more.
Pandolfi said the Forest Road School donated $400 in pennies that the school children collected in jars set up in each classroom. He also wanted thanks given to the Village of Valley Stream for okaying the permit to allow the tent to be set up in the street outside the bar. The area was closed off to traffic. He gave thanks to the fire and police departments for making sure the night was a safe one.
The greatest success was made possible by the residents of Valley Stream whose donations and presence at the event helped raise more than $20,000 for WTC victims' children at the holidays, according to Pandolfi.
"It was beautiful," said Helen Zaccoli, whose husband Joe was killed on Sept. 11. "It was amazing how many people were there...how people went out of their way to come even in the rain. ... What they did was so great."
"In a way it was like celebrating their lives," Zaccoli said.
Besides Zaccoli, widows Joan York and Debbie Palmer also came out for the event.
During the holidays
Despite the tragedy of Sept. 11, the holidays will come for the families of WTC victims. The holidays will come for Joe, 13, Regina, 12, and James Zaccoli, 7, the children of 39-year-old Joseph Zaccoli, an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald; for Dana, 14, Keith, 12, and Alyssa Palmer, 9, the children of 45-year-old Battalion Chief Orio Palmer; for Rachel, 5, and Alexandra Hannan, 18 months, the children of 34-year-old Michael Hannan, an assistant vice president for a division of Marsh and McLennan; for Amanda Stuart, 1, the only child of Port Authority Police Officer Walwyn Stuart, 28; for Francesca, 8, Toni-Ann, 6, Nicolette, 4, and Daniela Giammona, 2, the children of Lt. Vincent Giammona, 40; for Chris DaMota, 10, and his soon to be born sibling, the children of Manuel DaMota, a draftsman, who was on the 104th floor of Tower 1 when tragedy struck; for Vanessa, 10, Pamela, 8 and Bryan Diaz, 6, whose dad, Obdulio Ruez-Diaz was killed along side his friend and co-worker, Manuel DaMota; for Shont, 12, Isabelle, 8, and Aleene, 6, Voskerijian whose dad, Garo was killed; and for Firefighter Ray York's children Kristina, Kristen, Robert and Michael.
For Thelma Stuart, wife of Port Authority Police Officer Walwyn Stuart, the onset of the holidays has not been easy.
"It's been hard now that the holidays are approaching. I just don't want to put up a Christmas tree," said Stuart. "The other day [my daughter] Amanda saw holiday lights on the house across the street and I thought maybe I should put up some lights for her."
That's a big difference for a woman who usually dresses up like Mrs. Claus each year. "I'm usually the one who gets people going," Stuart said.
Stuart was supposed to host her family's holiday celebration this year. Her whole family was supposed to stay over at her house on Christmas Eve, but "I'm just not in the Christmas spirit," Stuart said.
Helen Zaccoli has been receiving letters from people all over the world. She has received an outpouring of the spirit of Christmas even as she and her children mourn for their husband and father, Joe Zaccoli, killed in the WTC tragedy.
Zaccoli, a religion teacher at Kellenberg High School, said, "I came home from school and my son noticed it right away - my brother-in-law had put [Christmas] lights up all over our house."
Despite her grief, Zaccoli said, "I keep thinking that's what my husband would have wanted. He would have wanted us to carry on the {Christmas] tradition."
Zaccoli credits her friends and large family, including seven siblings, with helping her cope with the loss of Joe.
