Kickboxing event to honor 9/11 victims

The Town of Islip is teaming up with the Town of Babylon at Long Island MacArthur Airport to help raise funds to honor Sept. 11 victims through an amateur kickboxing event founded by the daughter of a man who died in the attacks.

Babylon resident Jennie Nedell, an Islip Town employee whose father, Laurence Nedell, died in the attacks, joined Islip Town Supervisor Phil Nolan and Babylon Councilwoman Ellen McVeety Thursday to announce Rumble on the Ramp: For Our Fallen Angels, scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10.

Funds from the event, which officials expect will draw more than 500 spectators, will go to enhancements and upkeep of Babylon’s Hometown Memorial at Cedar Beach, which bears the names of 9/11 victims from the town, including Laurence Nedell.

Before the terrorist attacks, Jennie Nedell, who works at the airport, and her father took up kickboxing together. In the 10 years since her father’s death, Nedell has competed and helped raise funds through kickboxing to honor his memory and those of other Sept. 11 victims.

Nedell’s colleagues are teaming up with her to organize the event in which she and 30 other amateurs will compete in memory of those who died in the World Trade Center.

Above: Jennie Nedell spars with Islip Town Supervisor Phil Nolan at a news event to announce Rumble on the Ramp.