EMFD & Friends for a Beautiful EM Join to Honor Hometown Heroes

The East Meadow Fire Department and the community-based Friends for a Beautiful East Meadow have teamed up to co-sponsor a community beautification project that also honors those who have served or are serving in the United States armed forces.

The new initiative, Honor a Hometown Hero, allows families to honor their loved ones who are veterans or may be presently serving in any of the military branches by purchasing a full-color, four-foot tall by two-foot-wide banner hung on utility poles throughout East Meadow. The banners will not only be well-deserved recognition of a local hero but will also enhance the community’s beautification efforts.

“Beyond the uniform, our veterans are the embodiment of selfless service,” said East Meadow Fire District Commissioner John J. Priest, whose family proudly purchased a banner in memory of his father, who served in World War II. “Often referred to as the Greatest Generation, their dedication safeguarded our freedom and deserve to be recognized.”

The banners have a patriotic color scheme and include either a color or black and white picture of the service member, their name, branch, and years of service. Banners will be installed in the spring, before East Meadow’s Memorial Day parade, and will remain on display until around Veterans Day, when they are taken down to keep them safe from the harsh winter months and re-installed the following spring. Two of the community’s busier thoroughfares, East Meadow Avenue and Prospect Avenue, will be the first locations for the banners, and as the program grows, the hope is to hang them in additional locations, according to Commissioner Priest.

“At the heart of our military banner program lies a deep commitment to honoring our local heroes and a sincere hope that this program will also bring a sense of unity and pride to our community,” said Edward Rosenthal, president of the Friends for a Beautiful East Meadow.

There is still time to order banners for this spring; for more information, contact Friends for a Beautiful East Meadow at 516-595-3144 or info@fabem.org.