Signs, banners show gratitude for ‘heroes’ in Rockville Centre

Over the past week, banners and lawn signs have sprouted up around Rockville Centre, expressing gratitude for those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. The gesture is yet another way village residents are showing their appreciation for their friends and neighbors who are working to keep others safe.

In an effort spearheaded by Deputy Mayor Kathy Baxley, 10 banners, each 8 feet by 4 feet, have been created and hung around the village, and residents have purchased hundreds of lawn signs to display in their yards. The “Thank You” signs acknowledge first responders, health care “heroes” and essential workers.

The idea stemmed from a conversation Carol Ruchalski had with her daughters while cutting fabric for face masks. “We were helping to make the masks for hospital workers after learning they didn’t have any protection,” said Ruchalski, founder of the Mary Ruchalski Foundation, which funds cancer research, “and we started thinking about what else we could do for them.”

Her daughter, Lyndsey, 23, suggested making a thank-you sign. “Originally, we were just going to make a homemade sign,” Carol said. “Then I mentioned it to Kathy, and she took it from there.”

Baxley enlisted the help of James McDonald, owner of Lost Dog Art & Frame Company, who helped design and create banners and signs. McDonald said he had been working with Baxley on a project for the village that had to be put on hold when the pandemic hit. So, he said, he let her know he was available if any other projects came up. About a week later, he said, she contacted him about the banners.

“I helped with the layout, and we turned it around within a day,” he said. “We had 10 banners ready just before Easter weekend.”

The banners were hung by Ruchalski, Baxley and Board of Education Trustee John O’Shea on fences at each of the elementary schools — Hewitt, Watson, Wilson, Covert and Riverside — as well as at South Side Middle School, the Rockville Centre Volunteer Fire Department on Maple Avenue, Molloy College, Mercy Medical Center and Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital.

After Baxley posted the idea on social media, the donations began coming in, along with suggestions from residents for lawn signs, which have caught on quickly. The first order was for 200 signs, soon followed by a second order for 300, due to arrive this week.

McDonald said he points the signs and banners out to his children when they’re out on bike rides. “It’s awesome to see them while driving around town,” he said.

Each sign costs $20, though Ruchalski said some people are donating more money. “Anything over the cost of the sign is being donated towards the purchase of dinners for essential workers,” she said. “It’s snowballed into something really big, and it’s nice that something positive can come out of such a crazy time.”