They painted the town red — white and blue!
Sixth-graders at the Holy Angels Catholic Academy spruced up dingy Bay Ridge fire hydrants with a patriotic coat of paint for Memorial Day. The effort was spearheaded by 11-year-old Nolan Keegan who wanted to combine his passion for community service with supporting the troops, said the little patriot’s mother.
“Nolan has always been very active in community service and he really respects the military,” said Bay Ridgite Erin Keegan. “So for Memorial Day he said, ‘I have to do something, and the fire hydrants are very dirty, so I’ll clean up the community and paint them red, white, and blue.’ ”
Nolan, his 8-year-old brother Brayden, and a handful of sixth-graders took to the streets over the holiday weekend, armed with paint brushes and buckets of the patriotic colors — which Nolan paid for out of his own pocket. The kids brightened up four hydrants near the school between Third and Fourth avenues and 73rd and 74th streets.
And the sixth-grader aims to expand the project to the weathered hydrants in front of the Brooklyn Veterans Hospital on Poly Place, where he also regularly drops off thank you notes to be served with veteran’s meals at the center.
In fact, Nolan probably does more than your average adult to show his support for servicemembers by sprinting in a variety of fund-raising runs — including the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5k Run and Walk — and volunteering with Wreaths Across America to lay laurels on Brooklyn veterans’ graves. Nolan already has his eye set on attending West Point Military Academy upstate or The United States Naval Academy in Maryland.
“He has a lot of pride for America,” said his moms. “He does so much, it’s crazy. Who knows what he’ll come up with to do next.”
