Five-year-old Wins State-wide Contest:
Dalmatian Puppy Mascot Named “VALIANT”
Submitted by Carolyn T. Stone
Photos by Marianne P. Stone
Five year-old Lilyana Rodriguez of Massapequa has just been “adopted” by the
25-foot tall Dalmatian puppy that “lives” on
the façade of the Nassau County Firefighters Museum and Education Center in Garden City on Museum Row.
Lilyana, a kindergartner, who won the
state-wide contest to name the museum’s
mascot, helped reveal the puppy’s name
and was the honoree at a Dalmatian-themed party
held on February
17th at the museum. Lilyana was
presented
with
a miniature firefighter uniform by
the museum’s Executive Director,
Alana Petrocelli,
which she modeled for her family, including her
mom, Crystal, and brothers Zackary and
Joel. Also accompanied by friends, classmates, and dance school pals,
Lilyana was given a customized cake to
share with her guests; the cake featured
her name and the name she gave
to the mascot, “Valiant”, plus a picture of Valiant. Massapequa Fire
Department members, using a 100foot ladder truck, lifted up firefighters and museum personnel 30 feet
to the Dalmatian’s collar to display
his new name on a bone-shaped
dog tag. Lilyana simultaneously
revealed the
name “Valiant” at
the entrance to the
museum while television news cameras
and newspaper photographers gathered
to capture the exciting moments.
The Dalmatian puppy, which is now
a large part of the
building’s
new
façade, was
designed by H2M architects and engineers. H2M’s Director of
Architecture, Joe Mottola, who is a Massapequa volunteer firefighter and a museum board member, offered H2M’s services to design the façade. The project
improved the appearance of the museum
FD Rant News - March 2016
d
NASSAU COUNTY FIRE MUSEUM
and introduced a signature museum icon,
highly visible to the surrounding area, to
attract visitors and provide wayfinding signage for the museum’s entrance. The museum’s wish for a whimsical, kid-friendly
design has been beautifully fulfilled. The
project team for the design also included
Massapequa residents and project designers Katie Stone and Patrick Stone. Patrick
Stone is also a volunteer with Massapequa
Fire Department.
Chief John V. Murray, Chief Instructor at the
museum, shared safety tips with the young
party guests, and found many of the children remembered important information
about fire safety from their previous visits to
the building. Even at her tender age, Lilyana has a notably developed vocabulary
due in large part to her mother’s dedicated efforts. When mom Crystal learned of
the contest, she asked her daughter what
she thought a firefighting dog would be
like. Lilyana said, “brave.” Then the mother
and daughter used a child’s dictionary to
find synonyms for the word. Finding the
word “valiant”, Lilyana immediately knew
that should be the dog’s name! She said,
“I feel great about naming the dog and
having a party with everyone to celebrate
Valiant. I had a lot of fun playing with my
friends at the museum and learning about
fire safety and becoming a fire fighter and
I was excited to be on the news. Thank you
to the people at the Firefighters Museum
for everything!”
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