COMMUNITY NEWS

Flag flown over Capitol in honor of Grand Ave.

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The first day of school at Grand Avenue Middle School was recently commemorated in Washington, D.C. That’s because members of the Bellmore Moms Group, a community organization started on Facebook, arranged for a flag to be flown over the Capitol in honor of the school.

BMG administrators –– Natalie Molloy and Eileen Casazza, who also helped organize the Bellmore Preservation Group –– started the back-to-school tradition in 2013 when they learned about the Capitol Flag Program, which began in 1937 when a congressional representative asked for a flag that had flown over the Capitol. Organizations, schools and individuals were then allowed to request Capitol flags.

The federal program allows a member of Congress to request a flag be flown over the Capitol on behalf of a constituent, according to the U.S. House of Representatives website. The flag is then given to the constituent, along with a certificate of authenticity


Molloy and Casazza, both Grand Avenue moms, requested that a flag be flown in Washington on Sept. 2, the first day of school.

The program fulfills more than 100,000 flag requests from members of the House and Senate each year. With advance notice, a flag can be flown on a specific date to commemorate a birthday, retirement, anniversary or other special occasion.

Molloy and Casazza first had a flag flown over the Capitol in honor of Grand Avenue’s first day on Sept. 9 last year. The flag and certificate were then given to Grand Avenue Principal Carlo Conte.

The Bellmore Moms Group members decided to continue the tradition this year for a number of reasons. Molloy explained that the Bellmore Moms Group encourages residents to be proud of their community and country.

“The administrators and I wanted to do something special for the school,” Molloy said. “We are always encouraging patriotism and for homeowners to fly their flags to show community unity and pride.”

This year’s flag arrived on Molloy’s doorstep on Sept. 11 – the 13th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Molloy delivered the flag to the school that day.