A fun-filled day for children and their parents will once again – baring inclement weather – come to the streets of Throggs Neck, as Assemblyman Benedetto and other local elected officials sponsor the 25th annual Throggs Neck Halloween Parade on Saturday, October 25.
Assemblyman Benedetto is taking the lead role in organizing the parade, which will begin forming at 11:30 a.m. next to the Throgs Neck Little League field at the corner Throgs Neck Boulevard and Harding Avenue, and likely continue until 4 p.m.
The outdoor event is expected to commence with a costume parade through the neighborhood followed by a street fair with a costume contest for four different age groups, rides, games, and all kinds of family entertainment.
“This will be a totally enjoyable day for all of the kids in the neighborhood,” Benedetto said. “The kids will come in costume and parade around the streets. When everyone returns the rides open up, and the real fun begins.”
Benedetto said that he hopes on the day of the parade the weather is beautiful, noting that in the past two years when, because of rain, the celebration had to be brought indoors.
In 2007, after an ill-timed storm forced the parade’s cancellation, the costume parade and street fair were brought inside to the Villa Barone Manor, a week later.
In 2006, Benedetto threw a Ragg-A-Muffin Party, also at Villa Barone, where kids were treated to just as much excitement as at the parade, with face painters, jugglers and stilt walkers. Activities also included spin art, tattoos, a martial arts demonstration and stuffed animal-making with the Bear Bus.
The reason Benedetto so ardently wishes for good weather is he feels an especially strong connection to the event, having worked with school-aged children for 30 years as a teacher before being elected to the state Assembly in 2004.
“This is the parade’s 25th year, that began with Assemblyman John Dearie,” Benedetto said. “When Dearie left office in 1992, he passed the legacy onto former-Assemblyman Kaufman, who passed it onto me.”
Benedetto said that organizing the parade was such a monumental effort that he asked for help from Congressman Joseph Crowley, Senator Jeff Klein, and Councilman James Vacca, who were more than happy to extend a hand for a very worthy celebration of ghosts and goblins.
Benedetto also said he was very impressed with the kids’ creativity. “Some of the costumes are quite ingenious and original – a lot of work goes into them,” Benedetto stated.
For more information call (718) 892-2235.
