Veterans Day Celebrations Take Shape Across Nassau County

LEVITTOWN, NY. — Tuesday will mark the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, a day that has been celebrated as Veterans Day since 1938, when the U.S. government declared it, “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.’”

In Nassau County, there’s no shortage of ceremonies for residents to attend and celebrate the veterans of America’s armed forces. American Legion posts and Veterans of Foreign Wars organizations across the county are heading out to parks to observe with the display of colors, the presentation of wreaths, and the performance of music to honor those veterans.

For John Sottnik, of Wantagh American Legion Post 1273, the day provides an important opportunity to highlight the sacrifices made by American veterans.

“There’s a price to pay for freedom, and that price is being paid constantly, consistently, by the veterans of our armed forces who protect our constitution," Sottnik said. "Every veteran, when they sign up, they sign a blank check to the United States, up to and including their life. It’s an important thing that people do."

Wantagh’s Veterans Day ceremony will take place at 10:40 a.m. Tuesday at Legion Post 1273, located at 3484 Park Ave. in Wantagh.

“It’s kind of a typical ceremony. We have the presenting of the colors to start the celebration, we invite local politicians to speak some words of wisdom, we do a presentation of wreaths that were brought by various organizations in Wantagh, they come to our ceremony, like the Chamber of Commerce, Fire Department and Knights of Columbus,” Sottnik said. “We pause the ceremony at 11 a.m. to honor the armistice that ended World War I, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, and we ring the bell 11 times to honor the end of World War I."

Sottnik noted that Wantagh High School band member Brendan O’Callaghan will be playing "Taps" at the ceremony, then a piper from the American Legion band will play "Amazing Grace."

"And then we conclude the ceremony and have some hot dogs," Sottnik said.

In Levittown, there will be a similar ceremony taking place at Levittown’s Veterans Memorial Park. Levittown VFW Commander Kevin Honig said the ceremony will include the presentation of colors and speeches from the VFW and American Legion. When asked about the importance of celebrating the holiday, Honig offered a simple answer.

“Well, you know, veterans have answered the call to help defend your family, friends, your country, things that we hold dear,” Honig said. “We just want to celebrate those who have served.”

A celebration will also be held in Long Beach, at 10:30 a.m. on the 6th floor of City Hall. City buses will operate on a holiday schedule that day, with no residential sanitation pickup and closures to City Hall and the Magnolia Center. The recreation center and ice arena in Long Beach, however, will remain open.

Massapequa will also be hosting a Veterans Day Ceremony & Wreath Presentation, starting at 11 a.m. in Klestinec Park.

Meanwhile, in Merrick, the Freeport-Merrick VFW and Merrick American Legion Post 1282, along with its auxiliary unit, will be coming together to celebrate at 10:30 a.m. in Merrick's Veteran Memorial Park. According to legion member Bob Dishman, the ceremony will feature a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner sung by Rick Wiebolt, and give attendees the chance to see multiple monuments to fallen veterans on a day that celebrates living ones.

“There’ll be a showmobile there from the Town of Hempstead, and we have a ceremony honoring the veterans,” Dishman said. “We have a veterans’ monument, and we have a memorial monument there which has names on it of people from the Merricks who have died in World War II, the Vietnam War and the conflicts in Iraq and Desert Storm.”

To Dishman, those monuments serve as a solemn reminder of why it’s important to celebrate the holiday.

“Well, I think it’s important because I knew a lot of those guys whose names are on the memorial monument, but that’s for Memorial Day,” Dishman said. “Tuesday is Veterans Day, we honor the living veterans, the people who served who are still with us. That’s the big difference.”