The OBFC #1 was extremely proud to be asked to volunteer to do a medical standby at the Nassau Coliseum for the Heritage Foundation of 9/11. The standby allowed the Foundation to save the cost of hiring a private company so more of the proceeds would go to the charity. The crew of ambulance 5526 was made up of Ex-Chief and EMT-D William Ferris, EMT-D Wendy Niceberg, and, EMT-D Michael R. Scheck. The crew stood by from 2 PM to 6:30 PM and was happy to note that there was only 1 injury to take care of. Jason, 4 years old hurt his hand and allowed us to take care of him. He offered to get us some ice cream in return for the first aid. He was very cute!!!
The mission of the foundation is to preserve and increase awareness of 9/11 among the public, especially children and to recognize the unrecognized. While the job gets more difficult each year, it also becomes that more important to preserve and honor the memory of the heroes of that tragic day: those who perished and those who survived. All of the events include youngsters and strive to convey the message to remember the past while celebrating the future.
The first activity launched by The Heritage Foundationof 9/11, Inc. (which was then called the 9/11 Families Give Back Fund) was an ice skating extravaganza called Stars, Stripes and Skates (SSS) staged at the legendary Madison Square Garden on September 20, 2002, to commemorate the first anniversary of 9/11. More than a dozen World Class skaters participated in a 2 1/2-hour Exhibition for 9/11 family members, skating fans and community and charitable minded New Yorkers.
That inaugural Stars, Stripes and Skates show attracted in excess of 10,000 spectators to Madison Square Garden to see stars such as Nancy Kerrigan, Victor Petrenko, Sasha Cohen, and Timothy Goebel. It was the start of an annual production that has captured the hearts and imagination of these elite skaters, the general public, the media, venue operators and skaters of all ages and abilities.
In 2003, the Stars, Stripes and Skates Icetravaganza was held at Nassau Coliseum on September 7 . . . and a year later, Cantiague Park on Long Island played host to the gala even. SSS went back to Nassau Coliseum in 2005 . . .
We are proud and overjoyed that our 5th annual commemorative event in our efforts to remember the past while celebrating the future was held in Nassau Coliseum on Sunday afternoon, October 22, 2006. This year’s 5th Annual Stars, Stripes & Skates ICEtravaganza will be hosted by two-time Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan, and will feature skating and music presentations by Olympic Gold Medalists Oksana Baiul and Viktor Petrenko (and his daughter), former New Kids On The Block member Jordan Knight, past U.S. and World Pro Champion Rudy Galindo, spinning sensation Lucinda Ruh, Olympian Shae Lynn Bourne, former American Idol contestant Kimberley Locke, U.S. National Jr. Champions Meryl Davis & Charlie White, the Ice Theatre of New York and others to be added soon. LI’s Kevin Covais was also on hand to add his musical talent.
Also in the cast will be America’s Future Skating Stars, 100 youngsters from around the Northeast (both figure and hockey skaters between the ages of 4 and 19) who qualified through auditions to be a part of this year’s Stars, Stripes & Skates program. The figure skaters will perform a patriotic number on ice with the stars, while the power skaters will participate in a relay race with members of the NYPD and FDNY hockey teams.
At this year’s show, the 9/11 Honoree will be Manhattan-based forensic dentist Dr. Jeffrey Burkes who led a team of his colleagues at a special morgue set up for 9/11 victims in helping to identify lost family members, friends and colleagues. Also on hand that night will be Port Authority Officer William Jimeno, a 9/11 rescuee whose story is one of the plot lines portrayed in the film, WTC.
We are in our fifth year preserving 911 awareness and teaching younger generations about the importance of heroism and patriotism.
Please enjoy the following photos taken by Michael R. Scheck during the standby.
