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Celebrating 50 years of marriage
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Fleet Week fun at Eisenhower Park
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JUNE 2 - 8, 2022
100 years of Andy Butera A milestone birthday for local war veteran and longtime firefighter By MAlloRY WIlSoN mwilson@liherald.com
Tim Baker/Herald
ANdY BUtERA tURNEd 100 on May 24, and to help him celebrate, the East Meadow Fire Department and American Legion Post 1082 treated him to a drive-by parade.
Military vehicles, fire trucks and motorcycles came rumbling down Seventh Street in East Meadow on May 24 in honor of Andy Butera’s 100th birthday. The evening’s main man was a 70-year member of the East Meadow Fire Department. He’s an ex-captain and the oldest ex-chief in Nassau County. Before starting with the fire department, he was a corporal
in the United States Marine Corps from 1942 to 1945 and served in the Southwest Pacific. With dozens of firefighters, military, friends and family surrounding him, Butera was humble. “I’m a survivor, not a hero,” he said. “A lot of people in World War II sacrificed their lives, and I hope my country continues the path that we wanted it to be. Thank you, everyone.” “It’s an honor and a priviContinued on page 14
With parade and ceremony, E.M. honors the fallen By MAlloRY WIlSoN mwilson@liherald.com
A parade, a backyard barbecue, American flags, and tons of red, white and blue: images of Memorial Day, the holiday observed across the country on the last Monday in May. East Meadow is no different, with its streets decorated with flags and its community-wide parade on Monday. Memorial Day has its own special meaning to everyone, especially if a family member or friend died while serving in the U.S. military, and is among those whom people gather to honor each year.
“Memorial Day signifies the day we remember our fallen soldiers, and it’s not about having a barbecue,” said Frank Belardo, the grand marshal of the East Meadow parade and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2736. “It’s remembering the soldiers that gave a great sacrifice so that we can have our freedom. There’s nothing like getting out and watching the beautiful parade and seeing everyone dressed up. “It shows that we’re unified,” Belardo added, ‘and believe in the same thing.” “Land of the free because of the brave” is what Memorial Day means to East
Meadow resident Richie Krug. “You celebrate the memory of those who gave up their lives,” Krug said, “and kids today don’t realize what it was like to be drafted. They have no idea what it’s like to have their brothers or sisters killed in a war. Young people take it all for granted.” The weather was sunny and hot this year, but that didn’t stop the community from coming out and lining up to watch the procession. The Patriot Guard Riders, a national nonprofit whose members attend the funerals and memorials for members of the U.S. military and first responders, and Belar-
do led the parade from East Meadow High School to Veterans Memorial Park. For many, the joy of seeing the parade and its marchers has not waned over the years. “My earliest memories of the Memorial Day parade was the parade on Franklin Avenue, the widest two-way street in East Meadow at the time,” Walt Bridges, an East Meadow resident, wrote to the Herald. Bridges wrote that in the 1950s and ’60s, the parade used to start at Meadow Lawn School, now known as McVey Elementary. “We would put red, white and blue crepe paper streamers
in the spokes of our bicycles, ride around and then grab a spot to watch the parade. As a Boy Scout in the 60’s we would march in the parade with the fire department and band, VFW, the school bands and community groups marching in procession. The fire trucks were at the end of the line and when the East Meadow Library bookmobile was the last in the parade, you knew the parade was over.” Before the parade, the fire department had its annual inspection to see which truck and firehouse were the cleanest. Chief Continued on page 3