The Stars Come Out in Babylon Village

For the few days following the wrath of Hurricane Sandy, Babylon and much of Long Island had a beautiful view of the night sky's array of stars. With power out, light pollution became a non-factor, giving residents hit hard something to take their minds off of the chaos around them.

On Sunday, April 20, the stars returned to Babylon Village – colorfully throughout the village on utility poles, giving simple messages of hope.

The new wooden stars were delivered by Stars of Hope, which describes itself as a "unique disaster relief/community art project that empowers children in communities devastated by natural disasters like tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, and floods as well as man-made disasters such as mass-shootings and industrial accidents, to paint hopeful messages, inspirational words, and colorful designs on one-foot wooden stars as part of their personal, and their community’s collective, healing process."

According to Neighbors Supporting Neighbors Babylon president Theresa DePietto, the wooden stars were delivered to Babylon by Charlie and Mary from organization from areas of the country such as Georgia and Texas and a similarly devastated area – Joplin, Missouri, which saw an F5 tornado destroy the town on May 22, 2011.

"There are words of encouragement on them and they were made for our Sandy Homes," wrote DiPietto on the Patch boards, along with some photographs. "We hope you love them as much as we do! Please pass the word that these stars are very special and should not be removed!"