A showing of community pride in East Meadow

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Senator Speno Memorial Park in East Meadow was vibrant with music and the smell of pizza and meatballs on June 8 as business leaders mingled, children enjoyed games and activities and local residents enjoyed a mini tour of their community.

Residents united at the 28th East Meadow Community Pride Day, hosted by East Meadow Kiwanis Club and the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce.

“People recognize that, in order to be a part of the community, you have to come out and support the community,” said Alan Beinhacker, who started Pride Day in 1991 to “express the joys of living in East Meadow” and promote its schools, business and clubs.

Beinhacker co-chaired this year’s event with Ellen DeRosa, Liz Fries and Sharan Sokhey. “They’ve done a tremendous job,” he said. “And I want to thank everyone in the chamber and Kiwanis who volunteered to make this possible. You can’t do this alone.”

A Pride Day tradition is to dedicate a tree in Speno Park to a member of the community and this year’s dedication was in memory of Jeffrey Stadler, an attorney and long-time Kiwanian who died in April.

Kiwanis President Gary Fromowitz, Chamber President Michael Levy and Joe Parisi, the president of the Council of East Meadow Community Organizations, led the crowd in the tree dedication following the event’s opening ceremonies.

Following the memorial, community members enjoyed a health fair, sports events, fire safety tours, demonstrations, refreshments, face painting, live music, and more. Participants ran their own booths to showcase their work and ranged from politicians, police and firefighters, religious leaders, community and civic groups officials and business owners.

Adults were able to meet and speak with their community leaders and children were able to make friends and reunite with classmates. The day’s events were also supported and promoted by over 50 businesses and local organizations.