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Friday, August 22, 2025
Vol. 84, No. 34
SERVING BETHPAGE, OLD BETHPAGE, AND PLAINVIEW
SUMMER CONCERTS
Hempstead Town Supervisor John Ferretti (2nd left) and Councilman Dennis Dunne (right) greeted members of The Legendary Murphys prior to their August 7th performance at Levittown Veterans Memorial Park, part of the Town’s Free Summer Concert Series. For a full line-up of summer concerts please visit https://townofhempsteadevents.com/.
Free festival, concert at TOBAY Beach The Town of Oyster Bay has announced a Free Waterfront Festival and Outdoor Concert will take place on Sunday, September
7, at TOBAY Beach Marina. This family-fun day will feature marine and outdoor exhibits, a children’s snapper derby, police boat
demonstrations, food concessions and a free concert featuring Captain Cool Band with yacht rockin’ hits. The See page 6
The Bethpage Newsgram is published every Friday by Litmor Publishing Corp. Periodical Postage paid at Hicksville, N.Y. 11801 Telephone 931-0012 - USPS 3467-68. Postmaster: Send Address Change to: The Bethpage Newsgram, 821 Franklin Ave., Suite 208, Garden City, N.Y. 11530 • Meg Norris Publisher
Hicksville FD plans September 11th Commemoration Hicksville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Joseph DiFronzo has announced final plans to commemorate the twentieth-fourth anniversary of September 11th. The Hicksville Fire Department will commemorate the somber anniversary on Sunday, September 7, at the Strong Street Fire Station memorial. The memorial was erected in memory of Ex Chief Terrence Farrell and Honorary Chief George Howard, both who lost their lives while performing rescue efforts on September 11, 2001. Ex-Chief Farrell, a member of Citizens Engine Company 3 and elite member of the New York City Fire Department, Rescue 4 and Honorary Chief Howard was an ex-captain of Emergency Company 5 and member of the Port Authority Police Department working out of JFK Airport in the Emergency Services Bureau. This year, the ceremony will be kicked off when Chief Joseph DiFronzo and his members gather at the memorial at the corner of West John Street and Strong Street. Once the program chairperson calls the detail to attention, the ceremonies will begin. Invited guests and members of the community will pay solemn thoughts and pay tribute to Ex Chief Farrell, Honorary Chief Howard and members of the Hicksville Community who died tragically. The ceremonies start promptly at 10 a.m. with a presentation of colors under the American flag detail by
its hook and ladder apparatus and feature remembrances and prayers offered for the departed, by Father Christopher Sullivan, Department chaplin. The ceremonies generally last about 45 minutes and again this year the department will feature a special remembrance in memory of those Hicksville residents that perished that fateful day. The program will include a member of the service playing “Taps” when the wreaths are placed by the officers of Company 3 and 5. Residents will be offered the opportunity to lay a single carnation at the base of the memorial at the conclusion of the ceremony. “As I reflect on this day it is with a heavy heart that we honor those lost on Sept. 11, 2001, said Chief DiFronzo. We remember, and we will never forget, the nearly 3,000 lives taken from us that day and the thousands of lives since 9/11, due to illnesses that were a result of that fateful day. DiFronzo continued by recognizing that “twenty-four years may seem like a long time, but for the families who were lost, we must continue to honor the courage of those who put themselves in harm’s way to save people they never knew”. “The program allows the Department to come together in prayer and in gratitude for the strength that has fortified all of us across these 24 years”, said Michael Kretz, See page 6
SyCon 2025 at Syosset Public Library PAGE 10 TOBAY Beach open through Sept. 14 PAGE 3