The Town of Oyster Bay held a groundbreaking ceremony for its September 11 Memorial at Tobay Beach on Sunday, Sept. 12. They unveiled the memorial design showing what will become a quiet area, set into the dunes with a direct view to where the Twin Towers sat in the midst of the Manhattan financial center.

Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto explained why this monument was needed while so many other towns have created their own local tributes to those who died that day.

"September 11, 2001, was a defining day in American history and one that will remain forever etched in our memories," the supervisor said. "While there are other monuments on Long Island to commemorate those who were lost on September 11, the memorial at Tobay Beach will serve as a location for remembering those who had roots in our community and perished as a result of the attacks."

He said, this is a memorial to people who grew up in this township, used the same beaches as we do, learned to ride bikes and to drive their cars here, and went to the same movies and same fast food places as we do. "This is local, this is personal," he said.

Mr. Venditto called the memorial an inanimate thing and said, "We breath life and feeling and thought into this memorial by visiting it and learning about the people we lost on September 11. They live now through our visits and our thoughts." Every town resident has an obligation to visit the site."

Mr. Venditto told the over-100 people attending, mostly those with family and friends they were remembering that day, that the nicest night at town hall was when they decided what they wanted as a memorial. He told them that the town will add another element to the memorial and asked for biographies of those they are remembering. He said "We'll find some hi-tech (or low-tech) way to let people know about who they were. We want people to have a meaningful experience when they visit here."

He put the event in perspective saying, "We live in a great nation and a great town. The reason we live in a great nation is a result of the sacrifices people made starting on July 4, 1776 and on to September 11, 2001 and to the men and women around the globe today who are putting themselves into harm's way."

Bruce Foley, commissioner Department of Community and Youth Services said that funding for the Tobay Memorial fell short of what was needed but that Supervisor John Venditto stepped up and got the town board to take responsibility for the project.

Father Daniel Hurley of Rose of Lima R.C. Church in Massapequa Park gave the opening prayer and at the closing, read a poem by Cheryl Sawyer, a reflection on September 11. The first thought it expressed was that as the soot came down from the collapse of the towers, we became one color; people became one class, one generation, one gender, one faith, one language, one body, one family, one soul and one people. "We are the power of one, we are united, we are Americans," he read.

Supervisor Venditto invited the friends and family members to come up and give the name of their loved ones. Those remembered included: George Howard, a firefighter; Brooke Jackman, 23 years old and an employee of Cantor Firtzgerald; Steve, a Plainview resident who also worked at Cantor Fitzgerald; Thomas John Kennedy of Massapequa; George Gerard Howard of Massapequa Park; Michael Patrick O'Brien; Matthew L. Ryan; Bart J. Ruggiere; George C. Cain of Massapequa; Kenneth Rice III, 34, of Hicksville; Steve Dennis Cafiero, Jr.

Mr. Venditto then invited everyone to walk with him to the beach site for the groundbreaking and the unveiling of the architect's rendering of the September 11, 2001 Memorial.

When they arrived, he instructed all elected officials to get a shovel, and they climbed up on the dune and posed for photographs with the sun behind them, in front of a sign indicating where the monument would be erected.

When Supervisor Venditto unveiled the drawing of the memorial he said to the group, 'This is a direct product of each and every one of you." Ed Eagan, bagpiper, played Amazing Grace.

The construction of the memorial is expected to start shortly with completion slated for mid-November, weather permitting.

The memorial, which incorporates ideas from the public that were conveyed to town officials through drawings, letters, poetry, phone calls and e-mails, will be located on the Bayside at Tobay Beach where there is a direct line of sight to where the Twin Towers once stood and where the serenity and peaceful surroundings are a fitting backdrop for a place of remembrance. The monument will be a 30-foot diameter semi-circle, granite-clad wall. The wall will stand approximately six-feet high in the center and taper down to six inches at the ends. The granite facing will be predominantly white with two five-foot black sections representing the Twin Towers.

Names of those who perished will be placed in these tower sections. The monument will include a four-foot segment of a steel girder from one of the towers. The girder piece will be mounted on the center of the monument pointing toward the World Trade Center site. The memorial will also include benches, a flagpole, decorative pavement and landscaping defining the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

The names of victims for the Town of Oyster Bay September 11 Memorial Wall include:

Joseph P. Anchundia

Jean A. Andrucki

Yvonne Bonomo

Nancy C. Bueche

William Francis Burke, Jr.

Steven Dennis Cafiero, Jr.

George C. Cain

James J. Carson, Jr.

Richard G. Catarelli

Robert J. Caufield

Christopher Ciafardini

Mark Joseph Colaio

Stephen John Colaio

Clinton Davis

George A. Drew

Robert Fazio, Jr.

Richard K. Fraser

Andrew K. Friedman

Thomas Gambino, Jr.

Peter J. Ganci, Jr.

Paul Hamilton Geier

Gilbert F. Granados

Wade Brian Green

David Joseph Grimner

Geoffrey E. Guja

Thomas T. Haskell, Jr.

Gary Herold

Brian C. Hickey

Ronald G. Hoerner

James P. Hopper

George Gerard Howard

Michael Patrick Iken

Aram Iskendarian

Brooke Alexandra Jackman

Thomas Edward Jurgens

Paul W. Jurgens

Joseph A. Kelly

Thomas J. Kennedy

Patrick John Lyons

Brian P. Magee

Thomas A. Mahon

Joseph Maio

Edward J. Mardovich

Lester Vincent Marino

Peter C. Martin

Kathy Nancy Mazza

Thomas Michael McHale

Rocco A. Medaglia

Stuart T. Meltzer

Henry A. Miller

John Ballantine Niven

Michael Patrick O'Brien

Daniel O'Callaghan

Gerald M. Olcott

Patrick J. O'Shea

John M. Paolillo

Michael J. Pascuma, Jr.

Bernard E. Patterson

Thomas E. Pedicini

Anthony Perez

Laurence M. Polatsch

Steve Pollicino

Richard N. Poulos

Kenneth F. Rice III

Claude Daniel Richards

Bart J. Ruggiere

Susan Grigonis Ruggiero

Adam K. Ruhalter

Matthew L. Ryan

John Pepe Salerno

Frank G. Schott

Peter A. Siracuse

Christopher Paul Slattery

Christopher P. Sullivan

Frederick Thomas Varacchi

Joshua S. Vitale

Walter E. Weaver

Glenn J. Winuk

David Wiswall

Elkin Yuen

Andrew Steven Zucker