_________________ FREEPORT _________________
HERALD
May 16, 2024
Also serving Roosevelt
with a focus on programs and activities
Vol. 89 No. 21
Inside Freeport Career Center
Roosevelt holds symposium
Page 3
Page 15
MAY 16 - 22, 2024
$1.00
Rotary to host Day of Service at Freeport HS By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ mrafiq@liherald.com
Courtesy DeRosette Harrison
Rotary members Joe Diblasi, left, Nilima Madan, DeRosette Harrison, Lisa Hunte, Susan Sherman, Gregory Avery, Emily Margulis, Alisha James, Quddus Mohammed and Lyndell Senior pose with Lonnie Sherman, the head of General Needs, in red.
The Freeport-Merrick Rotary Club is teaming up with other rotary clubs and organizations across Long Island, and is accepting community volunteers for its annual Rotary Day of Service on May 18 at Freeport High School. The event, which will begin at 9 a.m., is designed to embody the Rotary’s mission of service above self, as well as giving back to the community. The task is similar to last year’s, with volunteers packing duffel bags full of much-needed items and supplies to distribute to homeless veterans across Long Island. The duffel bags will include items such as men’s underwear, crew socks, bath towels, washcloths and a variety of toiletries, such as shaving kits, toothbrushes and toothpaste, combs, shower gel, CoNtiNuED oN pAGE 4
Grand marshal selected for upcoming Memorial Day Parade By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ mrafiq@liherald.com
The Freeport Memorial Day Parade, organized by American Legion William Clinton Story Post No. 342 will take place on May 27. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Freeport High School, and head east on Merrick Road to Freeport Memorial Library. “We’ve been basically doing the parades since the ’20s all the way up to the present day for Memorial Day,” said David Cockerel, 65, adjutant, and former commander, of Post 342, one of the oldest American Legion posts in existence.
The American Legion is a nonprofit that supports United States veterans, founded by Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and other veterans after World War I. It was chartered by U.S. Congress in September 1919, and played a leading role in the drafting and passing of the 1944 G.I. Bill, which provide benefits to returning U.S. veterans and whose legacy lives on in moder n pro g rams designed to assist American veterans. The Freeport post is named after William Clinton Story, one of the first Freeport residents to die in World War I. The purpose of the Memorial Day Parade, Cockerel said, is
I
’m never going to have a big head about these . . . but also, it’s still nice to be recognized for something. KAlIB WAlKeR to honor fallen veterans as well as Gold Star mothers, whose sons sacrificed their lives while fulfilling their military duties. This year, the parade’s grand marshal — its honored ceremonial leader — is Kalib Walker, a
veteran of the war in Afghanistan. Walker, 32, has been involved in the American Legion since 2015, having served in the Marines from 2011 to 2015 and having had three deployments overseas — one with the private military contractor GardaWorld. Walker — who was stationed
near Twentynine Palms, California, was named grand marshal after Joe Higgins, a veteran and the president of the Freeport PAL Boxing Gym turned down the honor, saying that Walker, who has seen combat, would be a better choice. Of Walker, whom he coached as a boxer when Walker came CoNtiNuED oN pAGE 5