From The Desk Of Farmingdale Village Mayor Ralph Ekstrand

Written by Donna Duffy Friday, 11 January 2013 00:00

While Long Island is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy, I wanted to share with you what is happening in our village. Power has been restored to all residents and, for the most part, debris has been removed. We continue to progress with leaf pick-up and are in the process of catching up with all that was neglected as we focused on the aftermath of the hurricane.

Part of our typical preparation for the holiday season is the installation of lights across Main Street and the hanging of lit candy canes along Conklin Street and Route 109. For the past several years, this work has been done by personnel from the Town of Oyster Bay and prior to that by outside electricians hired by the village. Because of the hurricane devastation, TOBAY personnel have had to concentrate their efforts restoring power to streetlights and municipal facilities in Massapequa and Bayville. Private electricians are also committed to working on restoration efforts. For this reason, these entities were not available to the village to put up the holiday lights – understandably so. The trustees and I felt that this was a small sacrifice considering all that others are experiencing.  

We are very grateful to the members of the Village Beautification Committee, under the direction of Deputy Mayor Pat Christiansen, who gathered together on several Saturday mornings to prepare our village for the holiday season. They began with hanging lit garland at the gazebo, fresh green roping and bows along the fence and decorated the lampposts at Village Green all in time to celebrate the Bi-Centennial Tree lighting. 

For the next project, members of the committee hung roping and bows at the train station and placed fresh greenery at all the signs throughout the village.  Members could be seen standing on ladders placing festive decorations in the baskets located at the street signs on Main Street as well as hanging our wreaths on the lampposts. Gerngras Park is surrounded in lights and festive wreaths.  Northside Park is aglow with lit wreaths on the lampposts and lights on the evergreen trees. “Kissing Balls” look very festive at the entrance to the parking lot and the gazebo and sign located at the Melville Road triangle is decorated in the true holiday spirit welcoming all to Farmingdale Village. Candles can be seen in all the windows of Village Hall and the firehouse.  

At darkness looking at the three trees in the gazebo with their white lights truly captures the beauty of the season. All of this was made possible through the time and effort of people willing to give of their time and talent to our village.  

We are extremely grateful to the members of the Beautification Committee and the volunteers who joined them; members of the Farmingdale Women’s Club; junior firemen; Girl Scouts; Boy Scouts; our superintendent and members of the village’s department of public works; village trustees and Amityville Village for lending us their bucket truck to hang the lights on the Bi-Centennial Tree. 

Despite the turmoil resulting from the hurricane, the spirit of the season is very evident in the Village of Farmingdale! The trustees and I wish everyone a very joyous holiday season and a healthy and happy New Year.