Park District Honors Great Neck's Heroes

By Wendy K. Kreitzman

In a stirring, uplifting ceremony last Wednesday evening, the Great Neck Park District honored Jonathan Ielpi and Andrew Stergiopoulos, along with park district employees who serve as volunteer firefighters and were called up following the September terrorist attacks on our nation. Park commissioners, park district employees, local officials, relatives and friends crowded Great Neck House on Nov. 14, as Great Neck's own heroes were honored.

Both Jonathan Ielpi, a Vigilant firefighter as well as a New York City firefighter who was lost during the initial rescue effort at the World Trade Center, and Andrew Stergiopoulos, a Cantor Fitzgerald employee who also perished on Sept. 11, were one-time park district employees. Both young men basically grew up in the park district and played on Parkwood's Bruins ice hockey team. Their ice hockey jerseys were retired during the evening's ceremonies, and banners bearing their names now grace the walls of the Parkwood ice rink.

Park board chair Ruth Tamarin spoke of pride in being an American, and she spoke of the ''outpouring of gratitude and affection'' for our firefighters. Commissioner Robert Lincoln Jr. told of how the events of Sept. 11 brought us all ''closer together as a community.'' Mr. Lincoln, a firefighter, told how he had lost six friends on Sept. 11, and he said that as the firefighters went up into the World Trade Center, even though they were taken down, ''their souls continued to go up.'' Commissioner William Dobkin noted that it is no coincidence that so many volunteer firefighters are employed by the park district --- ''neither are plush desk jobs ... both jobs are for doers, action jobs.'' Mr. Dobkin also spoke of how the parks all across the country serve as places of peace, as well as sites for fun and games. These parks, he said, will eventually produce the leaders of the future.

Firefighter citations were presented by park district Director of Recreation Peter Renick. Citations were presented to the following park district employees who serve as volunteer firefighters: Richard Arenella, Jason Berke, Kevin Brannigan, Patrick Britain, Richard Canfield, Daniel Fuentes, Scott Garrigan, Raymond Hoey, Eric Jacobson, Robert Lincoln Jr., William McGirr, Bradley Meier, Edward Reed, Frank Vaccaro, Robert Wanczowski, and John Yuska Jr.

Park district Superintendent Richard Arenella made the presentations to the Ielpi and Stergiopoulos families. In an emotional speech, Mr. Arenella spoke of both young men being ''part of the Parkwood family,'' as are so many young people in Great Neck who have played at the parks and worked for the park district over the years. Mr. Arenella then announced that Jonathan's ice hockey number, 16, and Sterge's number, 54, are now retired; no other Bruins ice hockey player can ever wear those numbers. Bruins ice hockey shirts, with the men's numbers, were presented to members of both families. Jonathan Ielpi's two young sons were among those who proudly held up the shirts.

Additionally, all of the employees of the park district contributed money to ''honor their memories forever at Parkwood,'' by having two banners made with the names and hockey numbers of the two men. The banners, presented by Mr. Renick and Parkwood Sports Complex Director Fred Ondris, now hang at the Parkwood ice rink, ''on the west side, closest to the World Trade Center.''

Lee Ielpi, Jonathan's father (also a firefighter and a lifelong Great Neck resident) offered a heartfelt ''thank you'' to the park district on behalf of the Ielpi family and the Stergiopoulos family. ''It is heartwarming to see this outpouring,'' he said.

A Public Access Television Corporation video was shown, depicting the sights and sounds of the Saddle Rock Bridge memorial that was begun by Melissa Ielpi. And the ceremonies began with prayer and song, and ended with songs. Father Christopher Connell of All Saints Church, an Alert fire chaplain, offered the invocation. Music was provided by pianist Isabel Schwartz, with soloist performances by singers Sara Harmon Koenig and Nicole Blonsky.