Town of Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer, Deputy Supervisor Tony Martinez, Councilman and Veterans Advisory Board Chairman DuWayne Gregory and Councilman Terence McSweeney celebrated the kickoff of the Town of Babylon Hometown Heroes Banner program in front of Marion G. Vetter Elementary School in North Babylon ahead of Memorial Day Weekend. The banners, hanging along main streets in each hamlet of the town, honor veterans and active-duty members of the U.S. armed forces. Members of the Babylon Town Board were joined by Suffolk County Legislator Kevin McCaffrey, TJ Hatter of New York State Attorney General Letitia James’s office, members of the Kiwanis Club of Lindenhurst and other community leaders.
The program, made possible by a partnership between the Town of Babylon and Kiwanis Club of Lindenhurst, was a vision helped along by two mothers of active-duty military members, Carolyn Mormino and Jeanine Walther, who were also in attendance. Town of Babylon Beautification Program Director helped broker the partnership between the town and Kiwanis to make their vision a reality.
Family members had the ability to honor a loved one with a banner that will hang between Memorial and Veterans Days, with a portion of the proceeds going to a veterans organization of their choice. Along with the banner, participants received a smaller version to be framed, a digital version and the ability to share their loved one’s story to be posted to an online remembrance board.
Employees of the Town of Babylon’s Department of Public Works, also pictured, worked tirelessly to hang banners ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.