The Farmingdale Community Summit Council unveiled a much-anticipated monument during a memorial ceremony on Sept. 11 to commemorate the events of September 11, 2001. Dozens of residents, school district personnel, families of victims lost during the tragedy and friends gathered on the lawn outside the Farmingdale Public Library to honor those lost.

Organized by the Summit Council, the unveiling was part of the organization's program entitled "Farmingdale Remembers." Soon after the tragedy in 2001, the Council hosted a candlelight vigil ceremony on the field at Farmingdale High School and last year unveiled an artist's sketch of the monument and dedicated the plot outside the library where the monument was to be housed. Council members agreed that the library was an appropriate location for the monument and library administrators appreciated the decision.

"We are honored that the council has chosen the library for [the monument's] location," said Debbie Jascar, the library's executive director, who welcomed residents and officials to the ceremony. "We hope it provides a sense of strength to the community."

Following the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, Oyster Bay Town Councilman Anthony Macagnone was invited to lead the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. After listening to Farmingdale youngsters sing the nation's anthem, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Roberta Gerold offered these encouraging words:

"Just listening to these children, and we realize this every day from being in the schools, reminds us that we are given great strength through our children. We are safe because of our children [and what they will become]." Looking out into the crowd, Dr. Gerold added, "you can see that our children have strength because of you."

The superintendent added that the communities that encompass the Farmingdale School District are the epitome of what the entire country is about, that great sense of community and unity.

Summit Council President Tom Sabellico thanked all in attendance and those who assisted in making the evening's ceremony possible.

"Henry Ford said, 'Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress and working together is success.' By that measure, the communities that comprise the Farmingdale School District are a success and the monument we have erected and are about to unveil is a testament to that success," Sabellico said. "We have 'come together' to work for the common good and we have stayed together."

Sabellico further noted that the library is an ideal location for the monument.

"What better place in our community than this library to host our monument to a moment in history that none of us will ever forget. I applaud the library for so graciously agreeing to house this monument and I encourage everyone old and young to use this monument as a drawing card, or an invitation, to enter this library, to open the books that will open your minds so that we as a people may be ever vigil to the demands that a free society places upon each of us," he said.

Sabellico also addressed the events which "gave rise to the sacrifice and loss and heroism" that was commemorated that evening.

"In my mind, the events of 9/11 can be seen as an allegory to a deep cut across the flesh of our society. As a nation as a whole, just like a wounded individual, we hurt, we wept, we limped, we needed some time to stay home and begin to recover; but just like the miraculous skin of our bodies, the members of our communities, the children being not the least active or important part of the process, began a healing and bonding process - we reached out, we understood the needs of each other and we fused," he said. "We found a way to get stronger, we rehabbed ourselves and we stood up. And although we will always look at the scar that 9/11 left on our lives, we must choose to remember with honor and love the sacred memory of those we lost that day and the special feelings we share for those who served in so many different ways to help us heal and the lessons of love they all taught us."

Farmingdale resident Mary Ellen Hribok, who assisted in the donation of thousands of dollars at last year's service through her efforts of selling World Trade Center Commemorative candle pieces, thanked all of the organizations who helped in selling the pieces. She particularly noted the Hardscrabble Girl Scouts, the Junior League of the Women's Club of Farmingdale, LaSalle Regional School and St. Luke's Lutheran Church. Hribok also noted that over the summer, several people had asked for the candle holders to distribute them to family members across the United States and also the world.

Prior to the unveiling, Summit Council Monument Chairman Mark Wenzel read a list of the names of the victims who hailed from Farmingdale that perished at the World Trade Center. The monument was unveiled by Jim Neuberger, who crafted the actual stone. Neuberger requested the assistance of Sabellico, Legislator Salvatore B. Pontillo and Anthony Macagnone.

Summit Council President Sabellico encouraged residents to remember how much they love their country and the freedoms they enjoy, in addition to how much more that love was realized when our freedoms were challenged.

"I leave you with this thought," he said, 'Some loss leaves a heartache no one can heal, but love leaves a memory no one can steal.'"