The Village of East Williston is marking its centennial in 2026, and it’s looking to its residents to help make it an all-year affair.
“It’s a celebration of a milestone,” Mayor Bonnie Parente said. “It shows how far people have come, and that even though 100 years have passed, we remain a small village, still incorporating ideals that started 100 years ago.”
The village will kick off its centennial celebration on Jan. 4 with an interfaith mass at the East Williston Community Church.
On Feb. 28, the village is seeking volunteer speakers for its 11 a.m. Reminiscing Breakfast and Living History at village hall, where people are asked to share their stories of life in East Williston during the village’s first 100 years.
“We’re asking any resident who would like to speak about growing up or going to any of our schools and the experience that they had while they lived in East Williston,” said Christopher Siciliano, the village historian. “We’re having some residents who used to live here years ago come back and talk, and also current residents who have lived here most of their lives.”
So far, the village has six volunteers, including Siciliano, who will be speaking on the village’s fire department, and one 90-year-old resident who has lived in the village her entire life.
“That’s a lot of history in 90 years,” Siciliano said. “And, history is important. It’s so interesting to see the different perspectives of different people growing up in the village.”
To sign up to speak, residents can email seniors-recreation@eastwilliston.gov, villageclerk@eastwilliston.gov, or call 516-746-0782. People can speak for as long or short as they’d like, though speeches are anticipated to be around five to ten minutes each, Chris said.
Parente emphasized the importance of residents sharing their stories and encouraged the village to share personal histories of East Williston at the February breakfast.
“We should always be telling our stories, because if we don’t tell our stories, we don’t learn from the past, we don’t appreciate the past,” Parente said. “Why wouldn’t we want to learn from our ancestors so that we can go on to do things better and build on their improvements and appreciate the foundation they gave us?”
On March 14, the village will host Dave Morrison, a local LIRR historian, to give a talk on the railroad’s history at 2 p.m. in village hall.
April, the month the village’s actual anniversary falls in, will be marked by a centennial gala on April 23 at the Westbury Manor. Two days later, on April 25, the village will bury a time capsule in the village green to be dug up 100 years from now.
On May 16, the village will hold its annual car show with extra fanfare to commemorate the centennial, and throughout the summer, the village will offer historical walking tours, Siciliano said. He added that more centennial events are planned for the fall.
East Williston’s neighbor, Williston Park, is also celebrating its centennial with equal year-long fanfare throughout 2026, though its official founding date is Sept. 8, a few months later than East Williston’s.
As more information on East Williston’s and Williston Park’s centennial events are confirmed, information will be posted on the respective village websites.
