The citizens of Hicksville have much to be proud of, for standing in front of the high school is the newly dedicated memorial for the graduates of Hicksville High School and residents of the community who were victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The once peeling flagpole has been refinished and a new, much larger flag now hangs from it. At the bottom of the flagpole is a marble base engraved with inspirational quotations and an artistic depiction of the events of September 11, originally sketched by Amanda Du, one of our own high school seniors. I was thrilled to see that Amanda's spectacular artwork is visible from across the street. The old path has been replaced with a circular brick walkway, which is now bordered with lush new landscaping.

At the dedication ceremony, high school students walked among the crowd with baskets and handed out two floral bulbs to each audience member. One bulb was to be planted in the memorial garden while a second bulb and miniature shovel, wrapped in netting and tied in a red, white and blue ribbon, was to be taken home and planted as a private remembrance of our community memorial.

Hicksville resident and New York City firefighter Robert Senn, who originally approached the board of education last year with the idea for the memorial, and Hicksville resident and New York City police officer John Flynn raised the flag that had originally flown over the site of the World Trade Center. At the end of the ceremony, the flag was replaced with a new, larger district flag. Touching remarks by Superintendent Maureen Bright, Board of Education President Richard Pfaender, Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto and a poetry reading by student Dana Aboulafia caused the audience's emotion to range from tearful to swelling with pride.

I am writing this letter on behalf of the many community members and teachers I spoke to at the dedication ceremony so that we may all publicly thank the Hicksville Board of Education, administration, staff, students and members of the Memorial Committee for this obvious labor of love. But most especially, our gratitude to Superintendent Bright for her perseverance and tireless devotion to this project.

Diana D. DePalma