Town of Huntington to Unveil Veterans’ Blue Star Marker Donated by Nathan Hale Garden Club at Huntington American Legion Post #360

Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci, Town officials, and Veterans Advisory Board members joined by local veterans’ organizations and the Nathan Hale Garden Club to unveil a Blue Star Marker memorial plaque donated by the club to honor the Town’s veterans at 1 Mill Dam Road, Halesite, Friday, September 24, 2021 at 1:00 PM.

In 2020, the Town of Huntington was approached by the Nathan Hale Garden Club, whose members wished to donate a Blue Star Marker plaque honoring veterans to the Town; due to COVID-19, the ceremony was postponed. The Town’s Veterans Advisory Board and Commander Andrew Brady of Huntington American Legion Post #360 recommended the plaque be installed on the front lawn of the Legion at 1 Mill Dam Road in Halesite.

The unveiling was followed by a private invitation-only luncheon hosted by the Nathan Hale Garden Club at the Huntington American Legion Post #360.

The Blue Star Program honors all men and women that serve in the United States Armed Services. This program began with the planting of 8,000 Dogwood trees by the New Jersey Council of Garden Clubs in 1944 as a living memorial to veterans of World War II. In 1945, the National Council of State Garden Clubs (now NGC, Inc.) adopted this program and began a Blue Star Highway system that covers thousands of miles across the Continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Blue Star Memorial Highway Markers were placed along the way. The Blue Star was adopted because it had become an icon in World War II and was seen on flags and banners in homes for sons and daughters away at war as well as in churches and businesses.

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