USMA IN THE NEWS
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| It
was cold outside, but the response was heart warming. Scores of people congregated at Franklin D. Roosevelt's gravesite in Hyde Park Friday to mark the birth date of the former president. Residents braved the cold weather to honor their home grown hero, while visitors and dignitaries joined the festivities. "It is so great to see all of these people come out every year to honor FDR. It warms me up to see it," said Cynthia Koch, executive director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library. "This is one of the most wonderful ways of people giving personal testimony to a great figure of history," she said. Dr. Bernice L. Thomas, a Vassar graduate, who authored "The Stamp of FDR," gave the keynote address before several wreaths were placed around the grave. Thomas discussed the six Hudson Valley post offices that FDR helped design during his New Deal administrations. He influenced the Dutch Colonial style and dictated the material to be used, fieldstone, in each of the six post offices, according to Thomas. More than 1,100 post offices were constructed during Roosevelt's first two administrations. After the ceremony, Thomas said she was touched to have been chosen to speak. "Who would have thought little Bernice Thomas from Albany, Ga. would be speaking at FDR's birthday celebration? I was very moved, very honored, and very gratified," she said. Representing the president Brigadier General Daniel J. Kaufman, dean of the Academic Board at West Point, placed a wreath at the grave as the representative of the president of the United States. He twice saluted the deceased leader's tomb. Representatives from FDR High School, the Town of Hyde Park, the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce, the National Park Service, the March of Dimes, the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, and the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute also placed wreaths. "It's great to see young people as a part of the ceremony," said Roosevelt Institute President Christopher Breiseth. "We need the younger generation to connect with the sensitivity and concern of FDR." Several youngsters who attended were part of the history club at Arlington Middle School. Their advisor, Karen Sipperley, said the ceremony was an event laden with history and consequently perfect for her club to attend. Her students seemed to agree. "I think the ceremony was very awesome. The gunshots were terrifying," Yaacwon Conaway, 12, said in reference to the honor guard. "It was really cool seeing the cadets," said seventh-grader Sean Boorman. Councilman Angelo Targia was also pleased to be part of the ceremony, which marked what would have been Roosevelt's 122nd birthday. "This is the first time I've been. I was very honored to represent the Town of Hyde Park. I was very humbled, especially being an immigrant. This was just a wonderful ceremony," Targia said. The significance of the event was best exemplified by Peter Finn, a Queens resident who travels to Hyde Park every year to honor the former president. "We had him 12 years. Presidents today don't have that kind of impact," said Finn. "I've come here every year for the past 15 years. He made that much of an impression on me." |
| İHyde Park Townsman 2004 |