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SEPTEMBER 8, 2022
FO OT BA LL PROSPECTS
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INS FOR IDE TH SCHSEASOE FUL EDU N L LE
Dominick Novello
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Vol. 33 No. 37
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MlK Center hosts Community Day
High School Preview - Inside
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202 2 HIGH SCHO OL SPORTS PREVIEW
ROCKVILLE CENTRE
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SEPTEMBER 8 - 14, 2022
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Focused on child cancer, RVC ‘lights it up gold’ By DANIEl oFFNER doffner@liherald.com
Daniel Offner/Herald
CARol RuChAlSKI CARRIED on the local tradition, lighting up the tree at Village Hall in gold lights in memory of her daughter, Mary, and for others who have died of pediatric cancer.
Each September, Rockville Centre residents gather at Village Hall for a special tree-lighting ceremony, where they “Light it Up Gold” to kick off pediatric cancer awareness month. The annual event celebrates the memory of Mary Ruchalski, a seventh-grader at the St. Agnes Cathedral school who died in March 2018, just two days before her 13th birthday, of rhabdomyosarcoma — a rare cancer. “For bereaved parents, September is a stark reminder that their child’s life was cut short, and there will be no new beginnings,” Ruchalski said. “My Mary would be starting her senior year of high school and excitingly lookContinued on page 10
Village plans to add more names to 9/11 memorial By DANIEl oFFNER doffner@liherald.com
In remembrance of the 21st anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Rockville Centre officials have announced that they will be adding the names of t h o s e wh o h ave d i e d o f 9/11-related illnesses to the village’s Sept. 11 memorial. “The events of 9/11 continue to wreak havoc on our first responders and survivors,” Mayor Francis Murray said at the village board meeting on Aug. 18. “We know that a growing number of firefighters, police officers, tradesmen, downtown workers, residents, stu-
dents and so many others have gotten sick or died from illnesses related to the toxins in the dust from the burning buildings.” The images of the attacks and their aftermath have been seared into Americans’ hearts and souls — perhaps nowhere more than in Rockville Centre, where 49 residents lost their lives. After the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell, the local community came together in a display of great generosity. More than 70 village firefighters took part in the rescue and recovery efforts at ground zero. Residents also pitched in to give blood and assemble care packages for rescue units, filling more than 2,000
boxes with work boots, socks, underwear, sweatbands, and other items. “We banded together to show what it means to be RVC strong,” Murray said. Within a week after Sept. 11, Murray’s father, the late former Mayor Eugene Murray, Village Judge William Croutier Jr., and the late former recreation Superintendent Anthony Brunetta established the We Care Committee to help the families of local victims of the attacks. The three men led an effort to create a network of volunteer support services and helped provide more than $1 million in financial aid to affected families, and were
instrumental in constructing the village’s Sept. 11 memorial in 2012. Each year since the memorial was completed, community members have gathered on the village green, at the corner of Lee and Maple Avenues, to pay their respects to those who died and honor those who helped their survivors. Last year, for the
20th anniversary observance, the village refurbished the memorial, and a 21-gun salute highlighted the ceremony. “It’s hard to fathom that we are coming up on the 21st anniversary of the worst attack on American soil,” Murray said. “Sept. 11 was an attack on everything we as Americans hold Continued on page 4