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1A FOURTH OF JULY SALUTE TO LADY LIBERTYSeniors Salute America%u2019s Well Known Senior Lady un Her 100th Birthday:Life With Liberty: Immigrants Recall First ImpressionsBY TRACY GARRITYThey remember her as a shining star on the horizon. A lady to guard the port of New York. Mother to freedom. In the 60-odd years since they herded onto boats from foreign lands, the memory of Lady Liberty has not tarnished in the minds of these Brooklyn residents as, indeed, she has tarnished in time. It was in her shadow that they drew their first breath of freedom, and through her eyes they saw streets paved with gold.%u201cLittle did I realize the significance of the famous inscription by the Jewish poetess Emma Lazarus would come to mean to the World %u2014 freedom, compassion, the basic truth of life %u2014 which summed up the vast immigration which followed World War I,%u201d writes Rae Feldman of Mid wood.Feldman and 22 other New Yorkers won a writing contest sponsored by Vacations and Senior Centers Association (VASCA) honoring Lady Liberty. She and most of the others from around town came together June 26 to be honored in an event at the Borough of Manhattan College in lower Manhattan.The stories told by these seniors are surprisingly similar%u2014family separation, fear of disease, fear of starvation. And now, more than half a century later the memories are just as vivid and just as poignant, tempered by patriotism, perhaps, but not softened by time.For Rae Feldman, in America TheLanguage O f Liberty Was Easy%u201cMy most vivid memory was that there was a lot of excitement,%u201d says Rae Feldman of the Council Center for Senior Citizens in the Kings Highway area. %u201cEveryone was yelling, %u2018There she is. Here she is,%u2019 and pointing to the statue.%u201d Rae had not seen her father for several years, as he had left Poland to avoid being drafted mto the Polish army. While he was in America Rae and her family were forced into hiding during their escape and had to steal food to survive. Ellis Island, says Rae, was little better.%u201cEllis Island looked terrible. It was just awful, and after starving on the boat we starved at Ellis Island,%u201d she says, adding that her family was sent back to the boat because they had lice, and her brother had a red eye. %u201cBut they let us back off the boat, and we had to stay on Ellis Island. We ate dirt and old potato peels to survive until we got off the island.%u201dLife in America was not much better for Rae and her family, but, she says now, %u201cAt least we were out of Poland.%u201d She remembers coming to this country, and not speaking a word of English.%u201cI had to go to school, and when the other children talked to me, I didn%u2019t know what they were saying. Are you dumb or something? They would ask. I wasn%u2019t, I just couldn%u2019t speak their language.%u201d She says that three weeks later she spoke English.%u201cYou know, a lot of bad things have happened to my family, in Poland and in this country. But still I love this country very m ich.%u201dAnna Basilico Recalls A Mother'sFace, Stern But Still LovingAnna Basilico was born in this country, but grew up with stories from her grandfather, sculptor Francesco Messina, who came to this country in 1928. %u201cHe was such a sensitive sculptor and they caged him when he got to Ellis Island because he had red eyes. Well, he cried so much because he was in this cage, that his eyes got redder.%u201d%u201cTo grandfather%u2019s horror, he realized that the immigration officials were sending him back to his native land. There was no wife, no art studio, nothing left for him in Italy. His family lived here in America. Then suddenly, like a torchlight in the darkness, Grandfather saw his children coming towards him,%u201d writes Anna, of the Amico Center in Bensonhurst.Anna grew up with stories of the Statue of Liberty, and %u201cHis Mother%u2019s Face,%u201d her winning entry in the VASCO contest, is only one of those stories. %u201cEven now the stories can bring tears to my eyes,%u201d she says. Anna feels a closer association with the statue because her grandfather was in the same profession as the sculptor of Lady Liberty.\tholdi used his mother%u2019s face to make the statue, but 1 grew up with that because my grandfather told us. Looking at the statue he saw the vigor, compassion and love one can only find in a mother%u2019s face,%u201d she said. Anna visited the Statue of Liberty as a childRae Feldman (Phoenix/Kirk Photo)and was thrilled by the majesty of the art.%u201cI didn%u2019t go up in it,%u201d she says now. %u201cBut I wish I had. She was just so beautiful.%u201dAnna%u2019s best friend, Dorothy D%u2019Ambrose of the Narrows Senior Center in Bay Ridge, wrote a poem to describe her feelings on the 100th Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. %u201cLady of the Year,%u201d gives her feelings on the freedoms symbolized by the woman and the torch in the harbor.%u201cWe love America,%u201d she says. %u201cIt%u2019s as simple as that.%u201d The poem uses the lettersof L.I.B.E.R.T.Y. to describe freedom in America.Rabbi Chait Says America IsA Place For Religious FreedomsRabbi Aaron Chait of Borough Park offered the benediction at the June 26 awards ceremony, after winning an honorable mention in the writing contest. A journalist for the Jewish Press, he came to this country in 1938, eight years after his wife, Hester.%u201cI owe this country a lot,%u201d he says. \sons who are lawyers. That happens in America.%u201dDuring his benediction Rabbi Chait said, %u201cOn this celebrated superb occasion, we pledge allegiance to America, its stripes and stars, to the Statue of Liberty, and we break bread together under the promise to serve this blessed land, the land of the free and home of the brave, with utmost patriotism and love.%u201dSarah Rum sky Salutes The LadyIn The Harbor Today, A s In 1920Sarah Rumsky did not recognize her father when she saw him that day in 1920. She had spent 10 days in a small cabin with her three brothers and sisters, and a mother who succumbed to seasickness.%u201cBut not me,%u201d she writes, %u201cI ran around on deck like crazy.%u201dSarah spent the weekend on Ellis Island, examined for disease before being released into her father%u2019s arms. %u201cI was just 10 months old when he left for America,%u201d says Sarah. %u201cYou could have told me any of the men were my father and I would have believed it. I had not seen him in eight years.%u201d Sarah fled Poland on the S.S. Finland on a tough voyage that the family survived intact.%u201cShe was just so beautiful,%u201d says Sarah of \saluted the flag for the first time and I still love to salute the flag today.%u201dSarah says that life in America has not been easy for her family. They settled in Brooklyn in an apartment with the bathroom in the hallway. %u201cWe had to share with other families, it was a hard life,%u201d she says. %u201cBut we were free, and we were away from Poland. Nobody in my family got rich.%u201dShe says that riches came from freedom alone. %u201cAmerica has done nothing for me and my family,%u201d she says. %u201cExcept give us freedom. I believe in what John Kennedy said, about not asking what your country can do for you, but what you can do for America. I say God Bless America every time I salute the flag.%u201dO ' Saturday at Ellis Island we were examined and foundhealthy and free o f lice. We were complimented on ourclean hair and given a clean bill o f health. There was a storeon the island where you could buy candy and cigarettes. M ymother figured that a box o f Fig Newtons went further thanfour or five bars o f candy. So for two days we ate so manyFig Newtons that in all these years, I never ate another one.Anna Basilico (Phoenix/Kirk Photo) Rabbi Aaron Chait and his wife Hester (Phoenix/Kirk Photo) Sarah Rumsky (Phoenix/Kirk Photo)To grandfather's horror, herealized they were sending himback to his native land. Therewas nothing ieft fo r him in itaiy.But then, like a torchlight in thedark, he saw his children coming.On this celebrated occasion webreak bread together under thepromise to serve this blessed landthe land o f ihe free unu home o fthe brave, with utmostpatriotism and love.I believe in what John Kennedysaid about not asking what yourcountry can do fo r you, but whats %u00a5 * \\ fA h m m a m i / i / i %u00a5 o / a %u2022 %u2022 / V W VMII U(/ J l/f / I f f f V f *VM( MGod Bless America every time /salute the flag.July 3,1986, THE PH O EN IX, P ag* 29