The Seaford 9/11 Memorial Committee held its 10th annual Patriot Awards dinner at the Woodbury Country Club Monday evening.Five graduating Seaford High School students who received Patriot Awards at this year’s awards dinner included Meaghan Curley, Rebecca DelGiudice, Alexis Geiger, Rachel Goldberg, Nicolas Interrante and Jacquelyn Meyer. The students were honored for distinguishing themselves in service to the school and local community. Hempstead Town Clerk Mark Bonilla, a former Seaford resident, attended the ceremony and presented all the student Patriot Award winners with Town of Hempstead citations.This year’s Honorary Patriot Award recipients included longtime Seaford Harbor School teacher Susan Ward, Charles J. Wroblewski, who is president of the Seaford Historical Society and Seaford Lions Club, as well as slain ATF agent John Capano, who received the recognition posthumously. Capano, a 1978 Seaford High School graduate, was accidentally shot and killed when he attempted to prevent an armed robbery at Charlie’s Family Pharmacy this past New Year’s Eve. The Massapequa resident and Seaford native served 23 years as an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and was was a member of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association and the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators.
The Seaford 9/11 Memorial Committee works to honor the memories of five Seaford High School graduates that perished in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks including Thomas Haskell ’82, Timothy Haskell ’85, John Perry ’82, Robert Sliwak ’77, and Michael Wittenstein ’85. The five graduates are remembered with a 9/11 memorial teaching plaza located in front of the school they once attended. The plaza was dedicated on Nov. 23, 2002 and on September 11, 2011, the 10th annual 9/11 memorial tribute was held at the site.
