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Health & Fitness

4th of July Thoughts

My thoughts on Independence Day Weekend on the North Shore and the spirit of community that guides our region.

A time-honored American tradition on the Fourth of July is attending barbecues, festivals and get-togethers with friends and family. But we shouldn’t forget that commemorating our nation’s independence is about much more than hamburgers and fireworks shows.  

America was founded in a spirit of community, togetherness and service. Our forefathers fought and died for the freedom to live and worship as they wanted, but they never lost sight of the fact that this great country’s bedrock has always been our profound sense of unity with one another.  

This weekend, I was honored to see this spirit alive and well on the North Shore.

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On Friday, July1, I attended the concert in Glen Cove’s Village Square, hosted by the City of Glen Cove.  Seeing the crowd of all different stripes assembled to partake in an evening of outdoor music reminded me why I decided to enter public service as a Glen Cove City Councilwoman, and hopefully as a Nassau County Legislator this November.

The main responsibilities are, of course, to make sure that roads are paved, that garbage is collected on time, and that taxes are kept in line. But I also believe that city and county government should support a decent quality of life for its constituents.

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Public services like the Downtown Sounds concert series are an essential component of what citizens have come to expect and deserve from our elected officials.

On Saturday, July 2, I visited the ninth annual Big Bash Celebration of Life at Center Island Beach in Bayville. This extraordinary event was put on by Winthrop University Hospital to raise money for children’s cancer research. I was greatly heartened by the incredible display of compassion and community spirit that our North Shore citizens demonstrated.  

Almost all of Bayville was present, representing a great cross-section of local businesses, civic groups and elected officials coming together to enjoy the holiday weekend and raise money for this worthy cause.

Seeing our community come together this past week was a powerful reminder that even in this fast-paced age where we all might focus a bit too much on our iPhones and Blackberries ,we can still unite as a group to celebrate our great nation, honor the sacrifices of our forebears and do good deeds for our neighbors. 

I hope everyone had as memorable a holiday weekend as I did, and I’ll be back on Patch next week!

Sincerely,

Delia DeRiggi-Whitton

Councilwoman

City of Glen Cove

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