(Editor's Note: The following are Mayor Phil Guarnieri's remarks at the Winter Carnival and Fireworks celebration held Jan. 1 at Floral Park's recreation center. The event kicked off the village's centennial year. Mayor Guarnieri said that thanks to the hard work of Centennial Chairperson Tom Hayden, 1st Assistant Fire Chief Frank Wakely Jr., local Boy and Girl Scouts, the recreation staff, fire department and the following committee members - Winter Carnival Committee members _Virginia Appel_, Tom Dillon, _Ann Giardiello, _Debra Joyce_ (Can-Dee Music Company), _Janet Kloepfer, _Dominick Longobardi, _Kurt Meyfohrt, _Joan Reilly, _Rob Reilly_ and Bernadette Verdu - the fun-filled day was a huge success.)

"I would like to welcome all of you to the kick-off of our Centennial Celebration that marks the beginning of a year round of events culminating in October which was when the village received its seal of incorporation.

"To put all of this together was a tremendous task. And as always behind the inevitable there was a lot of hard work and dedication. So I would like to thank our Centennial Committee and especially the chair of that committee, former Mayor Tom Hayden.

"Tom was mayor during our 75th anniversary celebration and when he accepted to be our Centennial chair our village was honored that he could do this yet again while he was still - a young man. Thank you, Tom.

"This Centennial Celebration is a landmark, a milestone of our success and the embodiment of our triumph over this rugged course of time. But these celebrations are not merely commemorative for they represent, in their entirety, the confidence, the optimism and the promise of our tomorrows.

"Now poised on the threshold of a new and dynamic century, we stand as torchbearers lighting the way for a new generation. Knowing our actions, both good and bad, will have a profound effect on what we believe. Let us face the future with the same faith as our fathers before us so that the undying hopes and dreams that have sustained us, will again be harvested, to nourish and safekeep the generations to come.

"As we rededicate ourselves to the tasks ahead, let us reflect on the lessons of community, the spirit of citizenship, the resilience of civic pride and all the miracles, large and small, these things have wrought here in Floral Park.

"It is our responsibility to see the days to come as well as ourselves, in its largest dimensions. So as we take our first cautious but dauntless step into the dawn of our second century, let us always remember that our future is not something to be awaited for but something to be achieved.

"Happy New Year and Happy Birthday Floral Park!"