Memorial Day Remembrance

Sacrifice is the theme of Memorial Day. The sacrifice of individuals. The sacrifice of families. The sacrifice of communities. The sacrifice of a nation. Memorial Day is a time when America’s war heroes reminds us of the price for freedom. John Quincy Adams once said, “You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you make good use of it.”

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. It is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. It is often said to be the ultimate sacrifice. Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966. Although,  it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of this day.

Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor the dead. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.

On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.

The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).

Memorial Day is now observed in almost every state on the last Monday in May with Congressional passage of the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363). Sadly, while there were many parades to honor our past heroes, few homes and businesses displayed the American Flag. Let’s hope patriotism is still alive and flourishing in our great country and take pause during the barbecues, beach-going, shopping and relaxation to remember those who have fallen for us so that we can have so much. May God bless them.

Greenburgh Central School District Election Results

 In the race for School Board trustee, the winners were David Warner (incumbent) with 502 votes and Julie Allongue with  466 votes. The losing challenger was  Anthony Lopez Sr. with 155 votes as an unsuccessful write-in candidate. As an aside, write-in candidates rarely win unless they have mounted and executed an exhaustive outreach to the community to get the support needed. Write-in candidates also circumvent the archaic system of requiring ballot signatures, by-passing that initial part of the election process. 

The school budget also passed with a total of 500 in favor to 156 against. 

Regardless, what's disappointing is that once again so few residents came out to vote for the school elections an budget, which makes up a sizeable portion of their tax bill. This is extremely disappointing because you'll recall two years ago when the former Superintendent and the specific Board members had lied about the campus consolidation costs to the taxpayers that the public came out in force and defeated the consolidation extravaganza by roughly a three-to-one defeat. The Board also elected not to extend the former Superintendent's contract and the vociferous Board member lost handily in the subsequent school Board elections. Immediately afterwards, the school budget was passed, thus proving the community continued to support the children's education and the district.

Julie Allongue for Greenburgh Central School Board

 My name is Julie Allongue, and I am running for a seat on our Greenburgh Central School District Board of Education. 

I am a proud mom of an RJ Bailey School student and am serving the RJ Bailey community as PTA President in my second term. I seek the board trustee position because I believe it will take our town to launch our children into the futures they dream of and desire with the best tools we can provide. I feel an urgency to make this belief a reality, and we need more than talk to continue progress. I hope my choice and actions will serve as an example to our students of civic contribution and community engagement. 

With a career in product management, I bring experience in making tough decisions, balancing priorities with budgets, and managing goals and profit and loss statements—additionally, the ability to communicate and collaborate across fields of expertise. Lastly, the Allongue household is bilingual, and I have a brother who has battled hearing and speech impairment since childhood. Due to this, I respect the value of meaningful and accurate communication.

I will roll my sleeves to work for our Greenburgh Central students and community. Join me as you vote for me and in supporting our students with your vote on May 17th. 

Happy Mother’s Day