On the evening of Friday, Oct. 13, the Don Snyder Sports Complex at Farmingdale High School displayed their newly installed field lights for the first time during a Daler football home game against the Freeport Red Devils. This event made Farmingdale High School the first in Nassau County to have permanent, professional style lights at their sports complex.

The lights were installed by Musco Lighting, the same company that installed lighting at Notre Dame Stadium, the Olympic games in Atlanta and the extra lighting needed at some stadiums for Monday night football. These lights will provide the necessary illumination for night football, soccer, lacrosse and track and field.

The lights were a culmination of a dream and hard work by the Friends of Farmingdale Athletics, whose executive board of directors were presented with a check for $130,000 from Senator Charles J. Fuschillo Jr. to go toward the purchase of the lights. In honor of his efforts, Senator Fuschillo was presented with the game ball at the event.

According to the Friends of Farmingdale Athletics, this dream would not have been possible without the work of both Senator Fuschillo and Friends of Farmingdale Athletics President Frank Nocerino. They added that everyone in Farmingdale and surrounding communities will benefit from the lights at the stadium. All the athletes (both Farmingdale students and all of the visiting teams that will be playing in those games) will be able to enjoy playing in front of their friends and family at night. This will include both boys and girls sports, both varsity and JV.

In addition to lighting the field for sporting events, a portion of these lights will be automatically turned on every night for a few hours as part of a community "walking program" to be of benefit to every member of Farmingdale and surrounding communities. All runners, walkers or anyone interested in general exercise are encouraged to take advantage of this facility. This extra benefit of the lights at the complex are of special interest to both Senator Fuschillo and the Friends of Farmingdale Athletics, as the lights can be utilized by every person in the community.