A Munsey Park resident praised the village Wednesday for hosting its first Memorial Day commemoration ceremony in decades and teaching the residents who Waldmann Memorial Park was named for.
Resident Richard Susi said during the village’s Board of Trustees meeting that even though he’s lived in the village for about 28 years, he was not familiar with the history of Waldmann Memorial Park, named for George Raymond Waldmann, a Munsey Park resident who died Jan. 13, 1943, during a Naval training exercise in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was stationed.
“It was nice to see with a small community of 600 people how many people really showed up,” Susi said. “I really appreciate his work and the support the village gave him.”
The ceremony, organized by Munsey Park resident Greg LiCalzi, was held before the annual American Legion Post 304 parade along Plandome Road and gave residents a brief moment to remember Waldmann as well as Warren Harvey, Kent Fay, Emmett Corrigan Jr., William B. Simmons Jr., Thomas Brown Dowd, James J. Regan and Robert T. Munday, all soldiers who died in battle and are memorialized on the Waldmann Memorial Park flag pole.
A newcomer to the village, LiCalzi said he lost his brother, First Lt. Mike LiCalzi of Garden City, in 2006 in Iraq.
LiCalzi also founded a nonprofit organization in 2008, Ace in the Hole Foundation, named for the slogan of the Second Tank Battalion of the Marine Corps that his brother served with.
“On every last Monday in May, we find ourselves reflecting on these men and women who so bravely risk life and limb in the face of grave danger,” Munsey Park Mayor Frank DeMento said during the ceremony. “We remember those who left the comforts of home to fight for us and our freedom but never returned.”
In other business, Deputy Mayor Jennifer Noone said United Paving is expected to begin the Hawthorne Place and North Eakins Road paving project around June 22, and street sweeping in the village is set for June 25.
The village will also host, in conjunction with the Munsey Park Women’s Club, a family movie night on June 25. Noone said the women’s club selected the 1985 film “The Goonies,” which is set to begin at sunset around 8:30 p.m.
Reach reporter Amelia Camurati by email at acamurati@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516-307-1045, ext. 215, or follow her on Twitter @acamurati.
