Stewart Manor 9/11 Memorial Dedication
A Message From New York State Senator Elaine Phillips:
“Chaminade High School junior and Stewart Manor resident, Steven Giammona wasn’t even born when his uncle NYFD Vincent Giammona perished in the September 11 attacks. As part of his Eagle Scout project, Steven, who was born in October 2001, a month after his uncle’s passing, chose to revamp the existing 9/11 memorial outside of the Stewart Manor Village Hall.
Steven began working on the overhaul of the memorial in 2015 and walked door-to-door throughout Stewart Manor passing out information about pavers he was selling for $100 each. The Stewart Manor community rallied behind his efforts – and he raised more than $10,000! Steven’s commitment and dedication to honoring his uncle, his family and entire community is truly commendable and a great example of a young leader in the making.
Yesterday, I had the honor of attending the dedication of the new Stewart Manor 9/11 Remembrance Memorial. Over 100 people attended the unveiling ceremony for the new memorial site which has benches, a new flag and, a refurbished plaque and a new memorial base of granite and blue stone, which was donated by local businesses. The memorial is also now home to a piece of steel from the towers given to Steven by the Village of Stewart Manor Fire Department.
Congratulations and thank you to Steven and the entire Boy Scout Troop 134 for this wonderful dedication to the community.”
4:01 pm
My name is George Holmes. I was born and raised in Stewart Manor at 72 Dover Parkway. Two of my sisters still live there in the same house my grandparents bought so many years ago. I lived there for the first 21 years of my life when I got married and moved to Levittown where I have been for 53 years now.
My dad, George Allen Holmes, was a Fireman with the Stewart Manor Fire Department and my middle name Arthur, comes from my dad’s good friend and fellow Fireman, Artie McClay.
I was a Cub Scout in Pack 134 where Mr. David Riechart was our Cubmaster. I was a Boy Scout in Troop 134 where Mr. Shields was our Scoutmaster and I was a Bugler in the Drum and Bugle Corp run by Mr. Fitipaldi. I never made it any further than Tenderfoot when I quit because my family’s finances were in such bad shape that we could not afford even the very basic things I would’ve needed for scouting at that time. All I owned was that six-dollar bugle that I loved and my uniform which I very proudly wore.
When my oldest son wanted to join the Cub Scouts I was elated. I signed him up in Levittown’s Cub Pack 319 and I signed up to be its WEBELO’s Den Leader. When he Crossed Over to Boy Scouts into Troop 319 I joined him again as an Assistant Scoutmaster and eventually Scoutmaster where I stayed for five years when that troop ended and we had to look for other troops. My oldest son quit scouting after making Star and my youngest son, a Cub Scout in another Levittown Pack just Crossed Over but that Pack had no other Troop to feed to as Troop 319 dissolved. So, we join Troop 316 in Levittown but that was a disaster so the both of us just gave up and quit together.
I put in ten years as a scouting volunteer those years. Thankfully, I was already in the O.A and became Brotherhood before leaving scouting.
Now I am back in as an Assistant Scoutmaster and O.A. Advisor in West Babylon’s Troop 104 where my youngest son is our Scoutmaster and my grandson is a Life Scout and both are O.A. members and we are enjoying the scouting program again.
I want to finally say that I am incredibly happy to see Stewart Manor’s Troop 134 still active today and that it did bring me wonderful memories that I will always treasure.
GOD Bless all of you in the Stewart Manor Fire Department and Boy Scout Troop 134.
George A. Holmes.