Rotarian Rich Cieciuch said, "One of the best quotes, I have heard about the statue of Theodore Roosevelt by Alexander Phimister Proctor was said by Oyster Bay Town Historian John Hammond. He said the dedication of the statue of Theodore Roosevelt is the most historic occasion in Oyster Bay since President Dwight Eisenhower was here to dedicate Sagamore Hill when it became the Sagamore Hill National State Park."

Mr. Cieciuch said he believes the statue may well be the largest single bronze statue in Nassau County.

Speaking as a local resident, Mr. Cieciuch said he hopes a resolution to the stalemate about the former Busy Bee triangle is resolved. He said it could be combined into one grand piece of land. "It just begs for that. Oyster Bay has always needed something at the entrance to the village to declare itself and it had to be a Roosevelt theme. I personally believe this is TR's town and we should pay as much homage to TR as we can."

He said, "The Bahniks saved the day for us or the statue would have been sitting in the warehouse. Saturday, Oct. 29 was good news for Long Island and the country."

Mr. Cieciuch has written an article in the TR Statue Journal in which he spoke about TR's inaugural address of March 4, 1905. He said, "It was short and sweet." In his article, he compared TR and the founder of Rotary, lawyer Paul P. Harris. He said, "The founder of Rotary and TR probably never met each other but TR's statements about personal responsibility, community responsibility and international responsibility tie together into the Rotary model of 'service above self.' We have to be responsible not only to the community but to ourselves, including physical fitness, something TR was concerned with."

Mr. Cieciuch said Rotary was formed on Feb. 23, 1905 and TR's inaugural address took place on March 4 of that year. This was the time he was elected in his own right, after the McKinley assasination. TR put us on the international map.

"I am a TR enthusiast with great respect for what he was and his legacy that proves what we can be. He was a man who overcame physical adversity. He was not afraid to attack the political machines. And, who would have thought of painting a warship white," Mr. Cieciuch said.

TR sent the American fleet on an around-the-world journey of his White Fleet to show the power and might of the American nation.

Mr. Cieciuch said he hoped we had not missed the quote from Elizabeth Roosevelt. H said, "He brokered the end of the Ruso-Japanese War with the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth. And she mentioned that during his administration, there was no war."

It is all a great tribute to Theodore Roosevelt, a complex man whose life is an unending inspiration to people, including the fact that he is the president who has written the greatest number of books. Now there's something we can personally salute! There's something for everyone in the life of TR. Really, he is truly worth studying.

- DFK