Village residents, firefighters and the village board came together this past Sunday outside the Floral Park Fire Department’s Active Engine Co. 3 in the village’s West End section on Atlantic Avenue for the department’s new fire truck dedication.
On hand was Father Piotr Rozek of St. Hedwig’s Church, who offered his blessings and prayers.
“Brothers and sisters, this afternoon we gather together to pray asking God for the blessing for our brand new firetruck and we pray for our firefighters as well,” said Father Piotr. “Brothers and sisters, congratulations and may God bless all of you and our country just days before Fourth of July.”
Afterward, Father Piotr was escorted by ex-chief Bill Green to bless the department’s brand-new fire truck.
“Thank you everyone for coming today,” said Captain Tim Slavin. “This has been a culmination of a lot of hard work over the past couple of years. I’d like to thank our mayor Dominick Longobardi, our village board, our village administrator Gerry Bambrick for all his hard work, our ex-chief Mike Longobardi, who’s been involved with our truck, Legislator Vincent Muscarella and Town Councilman Tom Muscarella. This has been a lot of hard work by a bunch of my guys, who really put in a lot of time and dedication. We’ve had a bit of a hard time last year living in our circus tent down the road during the heat and rain and getting dressed outside, but it was all worthwhile with the culmination of the nice, beautiful ramp, our beautiful firetruck and all our safety features to protect my guys. I’d like to thank everyone for that.”
Besides having a new fire truck, the overall firehouse received enhancements as well.
“This is a great day,” said Mayor Dominick Longobardi. “As Tim said, it’s been a long culmination of many years of planning and different things that have gone into this with the expansion of the building and the new truck. We sit here and look at this beautiful new truck, so thank you to our entire fire department and the work that you do day-in and day-out. We know the training you go through and the work and dedication you give to our residents and business owners. The time and the care that you give to make sure that everyone is taken care of is beyond what anyone could have asked of you. The fire truck is a beautiful piece of equipment, but the reality is, while we dedicate it today and the new building renovations, the hope is all we get to do is train on it and use it for parades. The real hope is that we never have to test it on one of the home of our residents. We thank you so much for what you give back to our community. Let’s hope that we get to enjoy this truck for all the different things that are good.”
The truck was then christened with a bottle of champagne by honorary chief Ed Seevan Sr., who is a 60 year member of the company.
Then it was time for the department’s Recognition Award, which was given to firefighter Gil Luger.
“This particular member kind of acted as a general contractor,” explained Slavin. “He was up here every day during the construction and was involved in the truck manufacturing and all the details. He was able to pick up on things and change things to help us. He was involved in the changing of our new kitchen. We give a special thanks from all our officers…we’d like to give [the award] to Gil Luger.”
Lastly, Seevan was given an award for his time within the fire department.
“We’d like to present this award to a member who’s been with us for a very long time,” said Slavin. “He’s still known as the corn man, the strawberry man and is 81 years old. Next week, he’ll be with the department for 60 years. We have a thank you and special 60-year bar to Ed Seevan.”
