Village Hall Says
Goodbye
to Two Loyal Employees
Congratulating Anno Knoeller on her retirement are Trustee Bill White, Jr.,
Hempstead Town Councilwoman Angle (ullin, Deputy Mayor Renaire Frierson,
and Trustee Don Mauersberger.
Loretta Capozzoli received a service award surrounded by family and friends, including Ben Terzulli, Sr. Engineering Aide;
Superintendent of Public Works Lou DiGrozio; Trustee Don Miller; Rob Fisenne, Chief Engineer; Brian Nicholson,
Construction Inspector; Mayor Bill Glacken and the Capozzoli family.
Friends and family celebrated with Anna Knoeller and Loretta
Capozzoli at their recent retirement parties. Anna has been the Village
Clerk in Freeport for over eleven years, while Loretta has been working
for the Village for 21 years. In wishing her good luck in the future,
Deputy Mayor Renaire Frierson thanked Anna for her years of service
and dedication to Freeport.
Mayor Bill Glacken reminded Loretta that both the Glacken and
Capozzoli families have served the Village for two generations. Over
the course of her career at Village Hall, Loretta worked in the
Treasurer's office and at the Department of Public Works.
April is Recruitment Month
For Freeport EMT's
The Freeport Fire Department is looking for individuals interested in becoming Emergency Medical
Technicians and people who are qualified as EMT's for critical care and defibrillation. Emergency Rescue
Company #9 will provide the training to meet the certification requirements for those interested in vol-unteering
to become a firemedic. For further information, contact Fire Department Headquarters at
516-377-2190.
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APRIL, 2005 www.FreeportNY.com THE HOME OF CHAMPIONS
Annual Fire Department Ceremony Honors
Freeport's Heroes
First Assistant Chief Joe Koestner, Ex-Captain Brian Schuck, Mayor Bill Glacken, Deputy Mayor Renaire Frierson, Trustee and Ex-Chief Don Mauersberger.
In front, Lt. Matthew Merecka, behind him, Captain Brian Madigan, firefighter Matthew Colgan, Ex-Chief Allen Grosser,
kneeling in front, firefighter Joseph Norman, behind him, Chief John Maguire, and Third Assistant Chief Joseph Stallone.
In presenting the awards to the brave
men and women who were singled out for
special recognition this year. Mayor Bill
Glacken thanked all the volunteer firefighters
for their dedication to Freeport and its resi-dents.
"Every firefighter is a hero to us, the
members of the Freeport community," he said
addressing the gathered assembly, "for your
willingness to risk your life each time you run
into a burning building to save the life of
another person."
Among the firefighters cited for bravery
were nine individuals who displayed special
heroism and skill in helping rescue the mem-bers
of a family trapped in a ground-floor
apartment by an arson-caused fire that
occurred last summer. The rapid response and
quick action on the part of the firefighters
helped all but one member of the family sur-vive.
Receiving the Class "IN" Award were
Second Assistant Chief Allen Grosser, Lt.
Matthew Merecka, and Ex-Captain Brian
Schuck. Firefighter Matthew Colgan received
the Class "A" Award; Ex-Chief Julius Ellison,
Captain Brian Madigan, Ex-Captain Richard
Laudman and Ex-Chief Raymond Maguire
received a Certificate of Merit, while firefight-er
Joseph Norman received a Class "B" Award.
Ex-Chief Paul Russer received the Nassau
County Firematic Service Award for his
exemplary service on behalf of the Freeport
Fire Department for nearly 32 years. Over that
time Ex-Chief Russer has served on a number
of critical committees, and has risen through
the department to become Chief in 2001.
Ex-Captain Howard Goldstein received
the Town of Hempstead Firematic Service
Award. He joined the department in 1989,
as a member of Emergency Rescue
Company Number 9, and moved over to
Vigilant Hose Company Number 2 in 2003.
Special service awards were presented to
the Fire Communications operators for their
.assistance during the apartment building fire.
They stayed on the phone with the victims
and radioed their locations to the firefighters.
Also honored was the Reverend Robert
Dawley, who received the Rotary Club
Civic Leadership Award for his special
service to the firefighters. Rev. Dawley has
been a Department Chaplain since 1996
and is an honorary member of Patriot Hose
Co. No. 4.
Congratuloting the Rre Com Squad are: Nassau Legislator David Denenberg, Deputy Mayor Renaire Frierson, Mayor Bill Glacken,
Rre Com members, in front, Gerry Gagliano, behind him, Mike Keane, to the right, Dan Silicon, Chief John Maguire, Trustee and Ex-Chief Don Mauersberger
and Legislator Joe Scannell. Rre Corn members William Wade and Charles Parker were also honored.
A MESSAGE FROM THE MAYO
When the Glacken Administration came
into office eight years ago, Freeport was fac-ing
several daunting challenges. The village
was operating with an almost insurmount-able
budget deficit and a badly deteriorat-ing
infrastructure. Neither problem could be
ignored, and each demanded our immediate
attention.
Together, we made the difficult choices
that enabled us to preserve our community.
We managed, with help from the state legis-lature,
to resolve the financial crisis before it
brought the village to a standstill. We buck-led
down and balanced the budget for eight
consecutive years, and restored the village's
positive bond rating, which has enabled us
to make the necessary and long-overdue
capital improvements to our community.
Day by day, we have worked diligently
to restore the infrastructure of our village
from the ground up. We have rebuilt the
Nautical Mile, and in doing so, created a cli-mate
for construction, development and
reinvestment not only along our waterfront,
but throughout the village. We also began
the process of revitalizing our central busi-ness
district with storefront fagade improve-ments
and streetscapes designed to create a
"Main Street" look in our downtown area.
The newly-completed Main Street Mews
Project will attract professional artists from
the metropolitan area into our traditional
downtown to live and work. This, in turn,
will attract new businesses, galleries, shops,
restaurants, and investment.
Freeport is proud of its history of pro-viding
safe, low-cost power and water to res-idents
and businesses. We were determined
to preserve and protect this tradition. Last
year, we made a major investment in our
future with the installation of our own 47-
megawatt gas-powered turbine generator
at Power Plant 2. The addition of a second
47-megawatt generator, owned and operat-ed
by a private developer, provides both a
source of revenue to the village and electric-ity
to neighboring communities. This project
ensures that we will have an ample supply of
electricity to meet our needs and the needs
of the next two generations. We have
replaced one water well and added three
new water wells in the past year, to guaran-tee
a safe and plentiful supply of water for
our community for the next sixty years.
We repaired, repaved and upgraded a
substantial number of roads throughout the
village, reducing 90% of the persistent
flooding, while improving the appearance
and condition of the streets. Our parks are
now safe and inviting for families to enjoy,
and our Recreation Center is a year-round
attraction for residents of all ages.
Working together, we have turned the
corner in rebuilding our community and re-establishing
Freeport as the premiere com-munity
on the south shore of Nassau County.
Now we must continue to move forward
with progress. Work on the Plaza West
Project will begin soon, and Victorian-style
condominiums are being constructed on the
site where the Freeport Hospital once stood.
We have more bulkheading to install and
the waterfront area west of the Scenic Pier
to rebuild as parkland. There are still many
roads to be reconstructed throughout the
village, and several additional improvements
planned for the downtown business district.
We have accomplished so much working
together as a community over the past eight
years. Let us resolve to accomplish even more
over the next four.
The Cub Scouts, along with their parents and chaperons, surround Mayor Bill Glacken.
Six Cub Scouts from
Pack 18, along with several
of their siblings, recently
enjoyed a tour of the
Village Court, the Police
Communications Center,
the Board of Trustees'
Conference Room and the
Mayor's office. Then they
sat down with Mayor Bill
Glacken and learned all
about the advantages of liv-ing
in a village. The mayor
explained how they may
attend any one of the Board
of Trustees meetings held
most Monday evenings and
have an opportunity to see
public input on government
decisions. The youngsters
asked Mayor Glacken about
his job. "It is very interesting
and very challenging to be
the Mayor of a large village
such as Freeport, and a
tremendous responsibility,"
he explained. He told the
children that he has lived
in Freeport for most of
his life, and that his
children and grandchildren
are here.
PAL Basketball
Teams Take Home
es
Mayor Bill Glacken, Trustee Don Miller and Judge
V. Roy Cacciatore presented trophies to the boys
and girls who played on the PAL basketball teams
this season. The Mayor told the youngsters how
important teamwork is in building a winning atti-tude
and good character and reminded them to
thank their parents and coaches for their help and
support.
Pictured in the photo with the players on the team are Judge V. Roy Cacciatore,
Hempsteod Town Countihvoman Angle Cullin, Trustee Don Miller, Mayor Bill Glacken, and, second right, Mario Espinosa, the team's coach.
The Freeport Recreation
Center will be the site of a spe-cial
presentation of a variety of
foods representing some of
the many restaurants located
in the Village. The April 13th
event will take place from 6
p.m. to 9 p.m. and will benefit
Freeport Pride, Inc., a non-prof-it
agency that provides drug
prevention and counseling pro-grams
for young people.
The event promises to be
a fun and flavorful experience
with foods representing many
of the specialty and ethnic
menus available locally, includ-ing
seafood from the village's
well-known fish restaurants,
and the house specialties from
local Portuguese, Italian, and
Spanish establishments. In lieu
of a traditional dinner format,
guests will be able to taste
samples from the 20 featured
restaurants.
Freeport Pride, Inc., is a
recent merger of two local
agencies, Operation Pride and
Freeport Youth Outreach.
Anyone interested in purchas-ing
tickets at $15. each for this
event may contact Margaret
Berglund, at 516-378-1111.
At its annual grant distribu-tion
event, LI AC selected several
Freeport-based artists for awards.
The 2005 Nassau Grants for the
Arts program provides valuable
support for organizations and
individual artists and helps
provide arts and cultural
programs to local residents. This
year, $66,000 from the New
York State Council on the
Arts was awarded to 51
applicants.
is
Freeporters who received
funding include the E.T.S. Youth
Division Inc., to help develop a
Visual Artist Program, a series of
workshops for teenagers; the
Freeport Memorial Library, for an
African American Celebration of
music and literature; Freeport
Pride, Inc., to create a musical per-formance,
the Operation Pride
Show; and to Son Young Lee-
Segredo, to fund a Multicultural
Peace Mission Choir.
Soh Young Lee-Segredo; Margaret Berglund, representing Freeport Pride; Polly Whitehorn, the LJAC grants coordinator,
LeVada Felder, Executive Director of E.T.S.,Roz Kuras, of II Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra of Levittown; UAC Executive Director
Marine Katzman; and Raquel Pachas, a member of the Board of Directors.
