The Munsey Park Board of Trustees has agreed to hold a ceremony ahead of the parade on Memorial Day, dedicated to a village native who was killed during World War II.
“I thought it was appropriate that we would do something … to honor the fallen from Munsey Park, but also allow our children and residents to understand the meaning of the day, that it’s more than hot dogs and rides,” said Greg LiCalzi, a new Munsey Park resident who proposed the event.
The ceremony will be held at Waldmann Park along Park Avenue. The park was named for Munsey Park resident George Raymond Waldmann, who LiCalzi said was the first village resident to be killed in the armed forces.
The ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. and last about half an hour, which LiCalzi said would allow people enough time to get to the parade route in Manhasset before 10 a.m.
LiCalzi said there wasn’t much information readily available on Waldmann, and only through reading old newspaper articles and contacting descendants was he able to find out more about the park’s namesake. He passed out a short biography of the man to the Board of Trustees on Thursday and said he would pass out the same information at the ceremony.
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 ceremony will open with a student singing the National Anthem, followed by comments from a village official. LiCalzi will then make remarks about Waldmann. His remarks will be followed by the laying of a wreath and a roll call of the eight members of the armed forces who were Munsey Park residents and were killed in the line of duty.
He said he had a “special place for these guys” as his brother was killed in action.
Deputy Mayor Jennifer Noone said it was a great idea and the trustees would support it, but a few logistics had to be worked out first. The event was approved a few days later.
Noone provided an update on road work in the village. She said that the village had received four bids to work on Hawthorne Place and Eakins Road, but that she had not seen the bids and that they were being reviewed by the village engineer. The board will reconvene on May 22 to discuss the bids and vote on the contractor to be hired.
“It’s just unfortunate that the winter has been so long and we’re a little bit behind,” she said. “But the road will be repaved … I’m hoping by June.”
