Guerin

Mrs. Madeline Guerin Kerbs, residing in Hicksville told Rosalie Walsh Niemczyk the following information regarding her parents, Al and Kate Guerin. Mr. Guerin was an active Civic worker in Central Park. Al and Kate Guerin built a home, what is known today as, White's Funeral Parlor on 234 Broadway.

The Guerins moved to Central Park circa 1910 from Brooklyn. Al Guerin built two houses on 2 1/2 acres of ground that he had purchased from William and Emma Stymus on Central Avenue. It was part of a parcel that had been in the Stymus family for generations. The biggest part of the property must now belong to Bethpage Park. The 2 houses are still there and are opposite the old Gerhard Neuman property.

Mrs. Kerbs also informed us that Al Guerin was the original organizer of the Central Park Fife and Drum Corps, and he was also very active in the Central Park Fire Department. He was singly responsible for securing a bond for the fire company when it marched in the Hicksville Invitational Parade.

Some of those early band members included trumpet players: John Steihler and Duncan McMillan from Plainview. Madeline, herself, was the drum major, at her father's insistence, the first girl in the state to hold that honor. The date was around 1917.

Information from The Bethpage Tribune, July 23, 1982 - Bethpage History by Rosalie Walsh Niemczyk

Al Guerin (called himself "Al Grant") was sort-of Thespian/actor and put on fund-raising plays at St. Martin of Tours Church. He was very civic minded, and very well-to-do. His home, The Guerin House, is now White's Funeral Home on Broadway, Bethpage.

Infromation from Rosalie Niemczyk 11/2008