_______ Malverne/West HeMpstead ______
HERALD Also serving Lakeview
Summer Reading kicks off in W.H.
Village honors Flag Day
library crafts for Father’s Day
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Vol. 32 No. 25
JUNE 19 - 25, 2025
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Noam Traeger honored for service work By MADISoN GUSlER mgusler@liherald.com
Courtesy West Hempstead Community Support Association
The West Hempstead Community Support Association honored Noam Traeger with its annual Service Award on June 10. Traeger, center, was joined by Sarah Greenberg, left, Maureen Greenberg-Mahoney, Zahava Traeger, Nadav Traeger and Robert Shelly.
The West Hempstead Community Support Association presented Noam Traeger, a graduating senior at the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, with its annual Service Award on June 10 for giving back to the community. “The award is given to a senior that demonstrates service to the community, mostly through their volunteering,” Maureen Greenberg-Mahoney, the association’s president, said. “Noam was chosen for his service in the community of collecting over 2,000 books for veterans, nursing homes, etc.” Traeger, a West Hempstead resident, earned this year’s award by orchestrating several book drives in the community, which he began hosting during his freshman year. He also completed an Eagle Scout project by building book carts, which were filled with books and donated to local veterans’ hospitals. When Traeger moved from Queens to West HempCoNTiNued oN pAGe 11
School district held fifth annual Juneteenth Jubilee By MADISoN GUSlER mgusler@liherald.com
The Malverne school district held its fifth annual Juneteenth Jubilee at the high school last Friday. The event, which is organized by alumni, parents and students, featured musical entertainment, crafts, field activities and vendors. Juneteenth, marked on June 19, is a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. “Juneteenth celebrates that in Texas, people who were still enslaved long after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 were only freed in 1865,” district Superin-
tendent Lorna Lewis said. “Many people here don’t know about it,” Lewis added. “It’s important that we teach real history and celebrate what this country has become, (and) the diversity we have in Malverne.” The jubilee began with a march through Lakeview led by the Pride of Malverne Marching Band. The school district encompasses the predominantly Black hamlet. “Malverne’s strength is our diversity, and today we celeb r a t e o u r d iv e r s i t y a n d strength as a community,” Maurice W. Downing’s assistant principal Stephen Benfante, a
co-chair of the celebration, said. “We have to continue to support events like this because of the suffrage our people went through,” Doris Hicks-Newkirk, president of the Lakeview branch of the NAACP, said. After the marchers arrived at the high school, students from every school in the district offered musical entertainment and dance performances, including the award-winning MHS select choir, the Winter Guard, the Davison Avenue 3rd Grade Ensemble, the MWD Glee Club and the MHS step team. “Every year this gets bigger
and better,” Nicole Henderson, the event’s other co-chair and a district parent, said. “We have more and more students running the show — it’s largely student-driven. It just shows how amazing this community is, as well as our students.” “I love seeing our community come together to celebrate this type of event and showcase
everything our district has to offer,” student Co-host Sanaa Demosthenes, a junior at the high school, said. Vendors and food trucks operated by local and Blackowned businesses sold a range of products, from food to clothes and self-care products. “Juneteenth is a highly CoNTiNued oN pAGe 3