Fine cuisine for a cause

The West Hempstead Community Support and Civic Association will host a night of chocolate, wine and rose bouquets on Saturday to raise funds for its 9/11 memorial in Halls Pond Park, which will feature a slab of steel from the World Trade Center and, the organization hopes, will be completed by September.

At the fundraiser, titled An Evening of Wine and Roses, guests will sample pairings of chocolates and wines and dine on light fare such as vegetable crudités and hors d’oeuvres. Pianist Ozzie Machado will play classical music.

“It’s really something to draw everyone’s attention to working together as a community and to place something in West Hempstead that will be there forever,” said Rosalie Norton, president of the WHCSCA, “to memorialize those people who tragically lost their lives — but it’s really a celebration of their lives as well.”

Norton said she expects 60 to 75 people to attend the event, including West Hempstead resident and architect Salvatore Ferrara, president of the architectural firm Combined Resources Consulting & Design Inc., in East Meadow, which designed a rendering of the structure and volunteered to lay the memorial’s foundation. Several legislators will also attend.

The evening, which Norton called a “kickoff” of the organization’s fundraising efforts, will have an admission fee of $15 per person or $25 per couple, and will feature a limited drawing of 100 raffle tickets. All proceeds will benefit the West Hempstead 9/11 Memorial Fund.

Norton noted that the project is quite ambitious for a place that’s not a village, and how the organization appreciates the support of Town of Hempstead officials.

“It’s a memorial that will last more than just one lifetime — it will become part of our heritage in our community,” Norton said. “The whole purpose of this is to bring all of our communities together, all working for one purpose, and that’s to get this 9/11 memorial built in our West Hempstead.”