East Williston Mayor Bonniue Parente is looking to highlight the village’s everyday heroes. To do so, she’s asking residents for help identifying them.
Between May 26 and June 14, the village will display a field of 100 dedicated American flags in the pocket park on East Williston Avenue, across from Sagamore Avenue.
Residents can dedicate a flag to anyone they consider a hero with a $50 donation or by sponsoring the event at one of four tiers, ranging from $250 to $1,000, by visiting East Williston’s page on healingfield.org. All proceeds will go to the village’s public library and senior center.
Parente and Village Clerk Joanna Palumbo, who’s helping organize the event, said their goal with the Field of Honor is to create a display of patriotism around the Memorial Day holiday and pay respects to everyone – from veterans to teachers to parents – who village residents consider to be their hometown heroes in a public place.
“I think that they speak volumes about patriotism in America,” Parente said of nearby Fields of Honor and Hometown Heroes programs that inspired her to start one of her own, which she’d wanted to do for years. “I think that it’s an important reminder, so I wanted to bring one to the Village of East Williston.”
“It could be a favorite teacher that you had 15 years ago. It could be a parent, or a police officer, a firefighter or a veteran. It could be your local librarian,” Palumbo said, on whom residents could choose to honor. “It could be anybody in your life who you view as a hero.”
Palumbo said the soft deadline for community members to dedicate a flag was May 22, but, as long as there are available flags, the village encourages dedications through the close of the field on Sat. June 14, which is Flag Day.
Palumbo said the village will hold a brief closing ceremony that Saturday around 12 p.m., which will likely involve volunteers from the American Legion and Scouts of America troops who will help take down and fold the flags for all those who dedicated one to take home.
“I think patriotism should spread to all civil service workers,” Parente said. “It should spread to all men and women in blue, firefighters, court officers, emergency medical workers, volunteers – anybody who gives back to their community, gives back to others, should be honored.”
She said she was dedicating a flag to her immediate family, who give back to the community as teachers and volunteers, and that other family members were dedicating a flag to her brother-in-law, who served in the Vietnam War.
Palumbo said the village plans to work with Scout of America troops and local schools with students who need community service hours to assemble the flags and place them and their dedication cards in the field throughout the coming weeks.
She said the dedications will include the honoree’s name, photo, title and as much or as little additional information a person deems necessary.
“We really want it to be a place of honor,” Palumbo said. “When you come into the village, you’ll see it prominently.”
The display will be open to all to view at no cost.
