A new tradition is being added to the Manhasset Memorial Day observance this year.
The Village of Munsey Park will host host a ceremony beginning at 9 a.m. at Waldmann Park on Park Avenue in honor of George Raymond Waldmann, the first village resident to be killed in the armed forces.
Proposed by new Munsey Park resident Greg LiCalzi, the event is scheduled for about half an hour, giving attendees time to get to the American Legion Post 304 parade route by its 10 a.m. start.
Waldmann was born in Manhasset on Jan. 3, 1920, and was raised in Munsey Park. He graduated from Manhasset High School in 1937, where the yearbook described him as “one of the school’s most popular students.” He graduated from Yale University four years later. He joined the Navy soon after and was killed in 1943 during a practice flying mission.
“We’re going to honor George in a way he probably hasn’t been honored since 1946, when this park was named after him,” LiCalzi said.
The parade, which parade chairman and Vice Commander James T. Brooks said has been held since World War II, will potentially feature five floats build by longtime Manhasset resident Brian Kenny.
A former firefighter, Kenny said 50 members from the Long Island Harmonizers choir group will sing on one float while two other floats are dedicated to the 82 Manhasset residents who have died in battle since the Civil War, with a cross for each soldier, and a war memorial float dedicated to late Army Ranger Sgt. James Regan of Flower Hill, who was killed in the line of duty in northern Iraq in February 2007 after four tours, two in Iraq and two in Afghanistan, and was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star medal, the Meritorious Service medal and the Purple Heart.
In November, a portion of Port Washington Boulevard was renamed in honor of Regan.
The Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department Companies Nos. 1 and 2 will have a float in the parade as well as an American flag float, Kenny said, and the Plandome Fire Department will march in the parade.
The parade begins at Plandome Court off Plandome Road and ends at Mary Jane Davies Green. Post Commander Peter Killian will lead the parade alongside an escort from America’s Guardians Motorcycle Club.
The parade will also feature the Inisfada Gaelic Pipe Band, the New York Police Department Pipe Band, the Manhasset High School marching band and the Nassau County Police Department Pipe and Drum band.
Boy Scout Troop 97 and Troop 71 and Cub Scout Pack 3 and Pack 101 will also be in the parade as well as the Daisy, Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts of Nassau County as well as students from St. Mary’s Schools and the North Shore Nursery School.
