On Monday, Feb. 23, the Hicksville Veterans of Foreign Wars, William M. Gouse Jr. Post 3211 held their annual V.F.W. Voice of Democracy Awards ceremony. The themes for this year’s contests were “Why I Appreciate American Veterans” for the Patriot’s Pen Essay and “Why Veterans are Important to Our Nations History and Future” for the Voice of Democracy Audio Essay.
The Voice of Democracy Awards recognize the top three audio essays from Hicksville High School and Holy Trinity High School. The Patriot’s Pen Essay recognizes the top three written entries from the Hicksville Middle School.
Six of the nine recipients were in attendance with their families and friends.
Many federal, state, and local elected officials attended and presented the contest winners with certificates recognizing their achievement along with the Officers of the Hicksville V.F.W. Hicksville V.F.W. VOD Chairman Roger Doon presided over the awards presentation. Doon and his committee did a great job in chosing this year’s winners once again. For the third year in a row, the first place entry from Holy Trinity High School placed first in the Nassau County Council V.F.W. Contest. Also, Dylan Gaznabbi, the Patriot’s Pen 1st Place winner from Hicksville Middle School finished second in the Nassau County Council V.F.W. Contest. The other winners included Cindy Cheng (2nd Place, Patriot’s Pen), Alaha Nasari (3rd Place, Patriot’s Pen), Lovepreet Kaur (1st Place VOD Hicksville High School), Srisht Tyagi (3rd Place VOD Hicksville High School), Katherine Bilello (1st Place VOD Holy Trinity High School), Emily Kong (2nd Place VOD Hicksville High School), Nicholas Leonardo (2nd Place VOD Holy Trinity High School), and Andrew Bauman (3rd Place VOD Holy Trinity High School).
—From the Hicksville V.F.W.
